Patriarchal men perceive women and in particular mothers as having strange or different (other) behavior. A large portion of our gender-specific behavior is due to the “basic patriarchal injustices” or the different forms of upbringing and socialization which lead to the dissociation of precisely these personality traits, which are respectively considered to be typical of the opposite sex. However, it is certain that sex hormones also influence our behavior (see the article on testosterone poisoning).
The less men are integrated into a familial and social environment, for instance, and the more they are pressured to compete with each other, the higher their testosterone concentration is. Vice versa, higher testosterone values also lead to more dominant and aggressive behavior, which gives rise to competition and conflicts in the sensitive social fabric. When considered systematically and cyclically, an effect becomes a cause, which in turn strengthens the effect. Cause and effect blend together at some point: this is the well-known chicken and egg problem, a pattern which can also be found in the structure of relationships.
When a man produces very little testosterone, or none at all, he becomes „feminized“, according to the prevailing doctrine. This perspective is quite strange, since a man neither starts to produce estrogen, nor does his sexual orientation change, nor do his primary sexual organs disappear. Only his body hair and facial hair growth lessen, along with his musculature and fertility rate. Thus it is more of a “regressive” development or an “infantilization”. But where does this mistaken belief come from?
From the traditional patriarchal, male perspective, being female and being a child are nearly the same! A woman’s minimal body hair, particularly the lack of facial hair, the higher voice, the smaller body size, even the lack of muscle strength have contributed to this mistaken idea for centuries, likewise fed by the accumulation of power which men have attained through this. Women have been disempowered and, just like children, they have been declared to be property. In traditional patriarchies, the feminine never had a position of its own, separate from that of children, which more or less has created an omnipotent position for the masculine. Our language and its applications express this in countless ways. And language possesses great power, for it shapes thought, and thoughts shape and formulate language. Again it’s a cycle in which, from a systematic perspective, cause and effect blur together. In German, the omnipotence of the masculine is expressed in the forms of address “Herr Schulze”(master Schultze) and “Frau Schulze”(woman Schultze). Why not use the completely symmetrical “Mann Schultze”(man Schultze)? (see the initiative Anrede Mann for more on this).
The devaluation of the feminine to the infantile has not only been the greatest mistake of patriarchal man, it is also the seed of a repressive ideology which has persisted for a millenium. It was decisively shaped and reinforced by Biblical theology and metaphors, for example the metaphor in which women supposedly originated from Adam’s rib. It should be mentioned at this point that devaluation in and of itself is likewise only a consequence of patriarchal attitudes. In matriarchal societies, there are no “judgemental comparisons”. Each family member has the same value, whether child, woman or man, and whether they are healthy or disabled.
In contrast to the patriarchal ideology, the feminine possesses a completely unique, specific, creative and spiritual dimension. From an evolutionary-biological perspective, one must acknowledge that in its history of origin, the masculine emerged from the feminine, since the principle of sexuality is a more recent invention of our mother earth, which enables us to adapt faster and with more precision to changing life conditions. Thankful, respectful and at the same time full of love and devotion, we should once again restore the feminine to the position it deserves in our world and in our values system.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Anatol Stein
(c) all rights reseved by Robert Anatol Stein, 2013
Matriasys - Matriarchal Systemic Perspectives 