The Problem With Patriarchy

For humankind to survive in the longer term we need to create a world united and at peace. We have become such a dominant species that we are stressing Earth’s natural balance on many fronts. If we don’t destroy ourselves first with increasingly dangerous weapons of mass destruction, we may destroy our food and water supplies.

For thousands of years, patriarchies have dominated human society.
Religions were started by male prophets whose words were documented by male scribes and later interpreted and codified by male scholars and then promulgated by male rabbis, priests and imams. Even today, few women play any significant role in religious leadership.

Apart from a few notable female monarchs, women have rarely had any significant role in leading governments either until very recently.

There seem to be two main reasons for male dominance throughout history.
Firstly, countries and religions have been constantly at war with each other, and they have needed lots of soldiers to fight the battles. Males being, generally larger and stronger than females, tended to make better soldiers when it came to hand-to-hand combat. With modern weaponry, and the advent of Artificial Intelligence, people can be killed remotely, and hand-to-hand fighting is no longer essential. Future societies will not need alpha males to fight their battles.

Secondly, males are inherently insecure about their reproductive role and have tended to want to restrict the activities and freedom of their female mates to increase the likelihood that they in fact will be the father of their children. Governments and religions have been heavily involved in making this possible historically. Any society founded on male jealousy is incapable of reaching its full potential.
Women are as intelligent as men and they have the advantage of having only one brain. Men have two brains and it is jokingly said that we have only enough blood to operate one of them at a time.
Women who become mothers also have a much deeper understanding of unconditional love than most men. They also tend to be more focused upon the ongoing welfare of their children and their children’s children.

Uniting humanity needs this intense focus upon the well-being of others, now and in the future.
In my view, we will never create a world united and at peace without substantial female leadership involvement in all aspects of our societies.

We’re Better Than That.

Kenneth B. Little