Disrupt the Patriarchy in 2024

The patriarchy comes up in conversation a lot these days. People want to “take down” the patriarchy or blame the patriarchy for their discontent.

There is often a tone of patriarchy = men; men had their chance, and after thousands of years of perpetuating greed, fear, and oppression, it is time for men to step aside and let women lead.

While I have held this exact tone at times in my life, I now think of patriarchy in terms of a system rather than assigning it to men only. It is a system perpetuated by toxic masculinity that both men and women have…