Hi, I'm a radical feminist, nice to meet you

The conversation went something like this:

Some convoluted discussion about, human nature and socialism…

Kampire: Yeah, but the thing with “the system” is…

T: Wait, what do you mean by “the system”? What are we talking about here, are we talking about the government?

Kampire:… you don’t know what I mean, by “the system”? I don’t mean to be rude but I hang out with a lot of dirty Commies [laughter] so it’s been a while since I’ve had to explain this. “The system” is the capitalist patriarchal system that suppresses and co-opts minorities through a belief system that stretches back as far as history does and is wide enough to encompass our attitudes about immigration, sexuality, religion, education, etc, etc. The system means that you and I live in a completely different world because you are white and male.

T: Completely different?

Kampire: Yes. The fact that I am a poor black African woman means that I inhabit a completely different world than yours.

T: I can see how there would be some differences but, is it really that different?

Kampire: Yes.

T: How?

Kampire: Can I email you something, because that’s a really long conversation and I don’t know if I can articulate myself right now.

So T, this is for you,

Let’s go back to “the system” shall we? “The system”, also known as the patriarchy or the capitalist-patriarchal system, is the title used to describe the system of power and privilege that has old white dudes at the top and other minorities underneath, their levels depending on how well they assimilate or fit in with the white male ideal. White heterosexual male becomes the ideal and everyone else is the ‘other’. So poor women of color are at the bottom, statistics about wage differentials, access to job opportunities, health and lifestyle prove this over and over again.

The System is perpetuated and maintained through the values, attitudes, social structures, and power structures within our society and these attitudes and structures go so far back in history and encompass so many aspects of our lives, that most of us are unaware of it. It is in our speech, our interactions, our possessions, our relationships, our education, our sense of self but whether it ‘works’ for you is dependant on how high up you are in the chain; if you are a white male you are already thirty steps ahead in the race to achieve the things that The System tells you to strive for, that’s called white male privilege, we all have some kind of privilege, whether its heterosexist privilege or able-bodied privilege, but we’ll come back to that later.

Taking our economic system as an example, we live in a capitalist society, all over the world, and yes China and Cuba and a couple of other countries call themselves communist but the fact remains that our global economy is dependent on a system of competition-based trade. OK, great, capitalism, profit-motive, efficiency, trade and all that jazz but, get a good education get a job, get a house and five kids a wife and a German shepherd puppy. What’s wrong with capitalism? What's wrong with capitalism is that it is based on privilege and exploitation. The means of wealth production—the means by which society survives—are in the hands of a tiny minority of the population (those old white dudes again), either directly or indirectly through the government. So the rest of us have to sell our working skills to them for a wage for a salary which can never be equal to the value of what we produce—otherwise there would be no profit which is the aim of capitalist production anyway. The competitive struggle for profits leads to speed-up, stress and insecurity at work, to damage to the environment, to wars and the waste of preparations for war that arms spending represents. Maybe you know all this, maybe you took a class on Communism or read some Marx, my main point is that capitalism tells you anyone can be rich, just work hard, but that is a lie, hard work has little to do with it. There are over 260 million people in the United States. A $6 trillion economy could NEVER support a citizenry of 100% millionaires. In fact, $6 trillion divided among 260 million citizens is only $23 thousand per person. So really capitalism is simply a system that allows a minority of winners to exploit the majority of losers and get richer and richer while we get poorer. To make it worse, the minority is not made up of those who work hardest, it is made up of those at the top of the pyramid, those lucky enough to have been born white, male, in a Western country to a family that gave him opportunities to succeed.

Another example of how all this stuff informs and supports each other is religion. I’m going to take Christianity because I am most familiar with it, but what I say applies to many organised religions. Christianity is based upon that damn work ethic thing again, God says work hard and prosper and you’ll go to heaven. That is what the Puritans believed when they first came to American and the Puritan work ethic has a lot to do with the way America works today. Christianity tells you you are not good enough in order to make you work harder. Christianity is a great example of marginalizing the ‘other’ telling them that they cannot be part of the decision-making structure, but if you want to bake a cake or, I don’t know, die for our country in battle that’s cool, just don’t be loud about being all, you know, female, or gay or whatever.

While we’re bashing power structures, I’d like to add that democracy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either. It’s a nice idea and all, but the way its practiced anywhere in the world today, has very little to do with the ideal of one person, one vote.

Moving on, the system is evident in our values, attitudes and assumptions too. For example, the idea that the government should be allowed control over women’s bodies (birth control laws, the abortion debate, the tampon industry) is a ludicrous one, informed directly by the patriarchy. The fact that we can talk all we want about dicks and blowjobs while in most societies it is considered offensive for a woman to describe her genitals by their medical name in public, (say it with me, vagina, vagina, vagina) is directly informed by the patriarchy. It hurts men too, the fact that men have to be masculine otherwise they are a pussy or a faggot, being feminine is the biggest insult you can call a man in most societies today, what does that mean for women, for men (because we all know that none of you are as stereotypically masculine as you are forced to pretend. I’ve heard the sniffling during Lord of The Rings). What about the American dream, the house and the 5 kids? Reality is that today’s bankruptcy rate is ten times what it was during the Great Depression, is America really wealthy or is it just a façade created by easy credit?

Then there is everyone’s favorite easy target; the Media. You’ve heard most of the arguments, you’ve heard about the under representation and misrepresentation of minorities and women in the media, but it’s worth thinking about; what it means to look for an image of yourself in society and only be exposed to happy white people, sluts, hoes and virgins, poor black people in violence and prison. Where are the people who look me? The cool chicks who write music and have sex and real relationships and play rugby and talk revolution on late night weekdays with random people, where are they? What about in history? What about all the African queens who no one bothered to write books about because they were black and female? What about the 12 year-old black girl who googles African women’s history and can’t find a single helpful webpage?

As for the whole “white male” thing that I keep repeating, I’m not trying to say white guys are the bad guys or that a whole bunch of white guys in big hats are in a room conspiring over the best way to enslave the niggers, fags and bitches. What I am saying is that white guys are most likely to benefit from the injustices of our society and that’s what I mean by white male privilege. Privilege is starting a race with the best car and no t even knowing it. Privilege is wearing whatever the fuck you want without having to worry about the message you are sending about your sexual availability or gender conformity. Privilege is being loud and aggressive and being able to fart in public without being considered less attractive, a shrew or a bitch. Privilege is being able to easily find a band-aid or blemish cover the same color as your skin when you have a massive zit on your neck. Privilege is falling in love with someone and having society celebrate your choice, rather than considering it unnatural or illegal. I have privilege too, considering that I come from a continent where the majority of people don’t even have the privilege of clean water, I am very privileged.

The system does not tell you that you could be an oppressor, an unfairly privileged person, or a participant in a damaged culture. But I like to see finding this stuff out, as the first step to changing it.

sources:
Who are the Patriarch's Anyway?

The Male Privilege Checklist

The White Privilege Checklist

Finally, A Feminism 101 blog