Really good read, Jeremy! Thanks for putting this all together. On top of all that you've outlined here, I also see how white supremacy comes into play in reproductive rights conversations. When we zoom in on who is most impacted, who makes least in the workforce, and who is criminalized the most when not in accordance with these debilitating lack-of-rights, we see that Black women are most inflicted. That, layered with the increased mortality rate of Black mothers during birth, it seems yet another way to ensure that whiteness does not become a minority in a country that has systematically--and historically--treated minorities like non-humans.
This analysis is a good start for those wanting to get their feet wet about this issue.
There lacks, however, an intersectional understanding of patriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonial heteronormativity..
These mechanisms weave together to maintain the twin roots of all our current -isms: anti-Nativeness and anti-Blackness.
We can't analyze modern capitalism especially without talking about the plantation trafficking of African / Black people that built this entire economic infrastructure.
All of this occurring on stolen land. So we, likewise, can't analyze modern socio-political discourse without recognizing the way our entire political system refuses to honor the sovereignty of Native nations nor does it uphold the Treaties.
I would highly recommend the writer and readers alike dig deeper into especially Native / Black feminist discourse re: "hatred of women". Because this notion that "men don't hate women" just isn't true. I think you need to unpack how that hatred manifests.
Finally: readers and writers alike really need to dig into the exploitation of children and the MOST unprotected population in this entire colonial franchise. The exploitation, abuse of, and subjugation of children is the undercurrent of patriarchy itself.
It is the hatred of children and the wombs that create them that is the driving force of everything you've stated in this article. Everything you've talked about are ways the colonial system justifies this hatred.
Because, at the end of the day, patriarchy isn't the "rule of men."
It's the "rule of the father." And that's a nuance that is not fully illuminated in most critiques of our modern society.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I definitely am still learning how all the isms connect. I'll admit I have a blindspot about colonialism and heteronormativity. I come from Marxist circles where capitalism is the primary target of analysis. I'm still learning.
I appreciate your time here and I'm glad you wrote this article.
What I really like about this piece is following the paper trail. The reciepts. Because THAT shows us what is important to any given society because it's irrefutable.
For example, a federal judge recently ruled against Fearless Fund which is a grant pool to specifically support Black women. While I could go on and on about the way this country bombs entire Black cities when they make too much money, dismantle Black owned banks, defunds Black schools when the white kids start wanting to go there, etc etc etc
We can look at where the money goes, but we can also look at where the money is STYMIED, disrupted, or cut off altogether.
Even without historical analysis that show us this country tears successful Black communities to shreds (while tokenizing Black individuals as success of capitalism) the reality is that Black and Native communities as a whole are not allowed to thrive, gain economic momentum, or socio-economic mobility unless they are heavily surveilled / regulated by the state.
But more than just money: we can look at the statistics of violence/homicide toward women/ queer and children and see that the overwhelming majority of these crimes are committed by cis het males.
Not every cis het man is beating on others, but of the people that ARE enacting heinous violence, they are almost always cis het men. There is something to be said here about a collective hatred that is allowed to exist even if not everyone is allowed or encouraged to participate.
In other words: there is an acceptable level of violence that is allowed to exist because it is the boots on the ground of patriarchy capitalism. The same capitalism that is quick to block and defund non-white spaces is the same patriarchy that gives white land owning Christian cis het men 2 years probation after sexually assaulting a child.
Thank you for writing about this. It is equal parts exhausting and infuriating to only hear our (women's) own voices and our own pain when dealing with this craziness. I'm always wondering where the husbands and the fathers and the brothers are. Then I wised up and realized most of them just don't give a shit - they don't even like the women in their lives. You're clearly a gem.
Anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies are a primary focus now and also being used to galvanize voters across religious, race and economic lines to vote against their interests. These two issues, along with the goal to strengthen the superiority of fathers and keep women at home, are major issues in the Project 2025 agenda. I expect it to work since most people want access to as much privilege as possible and can’t see that the end game does not include them.
I agree about the “workers” explanation but I don’t think it’s just Republicans. Birth rates are dropping all over the world and countries are worried about their entitlements and their military might. I think plenty of both parties in the military and jail industries want more people.
Russia’s birth rate is lower than America’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to war in Ukraine to increase its population. China’s birth rate is even lower than Russia’s.
When Dobb’s was eradicated, abortions increased. The GOP realized that women can have abortions without walking through a gauntlet of harassing right to lifers so they are trying to get rid of mifepristone. If they are successful at endings access to mifepristone, they’ll go after all contraceptives - especially IUDs and the shot which are less visible and longer lastly.
If Biden wins on Dobbs and nothing changes in reproductive rights, you’ll know they are in on it too.
Great mention of the prison industries - as much as capitalism relies on white men in the workforce and white women in the home, it also relies on black men to become incarcerated slave labor for the state.
It’s not enough for Biden to win. Just to be clear. If it were- we would not be here. The Senate AND Congress have to be enough of a D majority (and other left leaning- 3rd parties), and the current SCOTUS must be dismantled. No matter what laws are put in places, that corrupt cesspool will do pretzels to prevent any effective change. Vote like your life depends on it- every time. Local, state, and federal. Because it is becoming clear- it does, if you are a woman, POC, LGBTQ+, or any other marginalized community.
I always vote - I always will vote. This whole scaring minorities to vote for Democrats is getting tiring. For once could someone please go talk to all the White men and especially the White women!
It is clear that Democrats talk about all the issues that POC and LBGTQ and other folks consider quality of life issues…. Then they blame procedure and the GOP why nothing changes. Congress is divided but the GOP manages to stack SCOTUS, gerrymander the hell out their districts, and intimidate the media into reporting “it’s both sides.
The DACA kids are grandparents now and they still are in limbo. Women have less rights than their moms. Black people are still those scary criminals who don’t want to work while simultaneously taking your spot in college and your job. I think the only reason Gay Marriage hasn’t been repealed is because White men are in that group.
It should be obvious to you who I am voting for, I don’t need a lecture. I know what the stakes are for me and my community. If the democrats want to be successful at attracting more voters - they should start with producing for the voters they have.
Cannot agree more. I am often befuddled at my fellow white women😭. But know a few of us are trying to help. And are grateful to the other communities that actually saved our asses these past decades with their votes.
Have you heard of this documentary called "Indebted to All Women"? I highly recommend it. It's painful and at times, infuriating but there's one point where one of the activists says this: "Control over women is also based on a logic of domination and acceptance which is very useful for the economic system as long as it ensures the low-cost reproduction of life that will become a workforce within the logic of capitalism. Thus in my opinion, while we are having this discussion about legislation in terms of black and white, we should not forget the symbolic significance that implies sustaining the oppression of patriarchal system, in order to maintain the status quo".
One of the strongest reasons to admit more, rather than fewer, immigrants is to enhance our ability to support important social programs like Social Security and Medicare. New people pay the taxes that support the rest of us. Immigrants make society stronger not weaker. Everything said above clarifies one element of the anti abortion movement, but hostility to women still undergirds many of these types of laws. Whether they are rich or poor, a competent woman is a threat to them.
I think your theory on why Republicans would prefer a higher native birth rate makes economic sense to drive consumption and create more workers; thus pushing up profits for the corporate donor class that supports the GOP agenda. However, I’m curious why the same calculus wouldn’t apply to immigration. Wouldn’t allowing more people to enter the country legally able to work accomplish the same economic outcomes? Flash back to the late 19th/early 20th century and business leaders were successful making mass legal immigration available here in the US.
Or is the GOP simply more successful using immigration as a wedge to energize their base, while undocumented workers prop up industry anyways?
If we are talking pure economic productivity, Jeff is right. In fact, a young adult coming into the country, ready to contribute on day one ought to be “worth more” than a needy little infant. Where that obvious math breaks down is that recognizing it softens the hard edge of hate and entitlement that bring out the white supremacists to keep the Republicans in power. Every non-white person who gets on a path to earn their citizenship is perceived to have the potential to cancel out the vote of an angry white man.
The real key is that many white women are not going to go along with patriarchy UNLESS there is some racial superiority offered to them and theirs. They would rather be second class, behind only white men, than 5th or 6th class behind all of the men of every ethnic background.
Sadly, the MAJORITY of white women voted for the sexual assault-prone Combover King in both 2016 and 2020.
It's not as simple as hating us. It's apathy about our lives. They simply don't care if women die to further their goals or those of their patriarchal God.
The White Male tree house has a sign, No Girls Allowed. They project their fears constantly as to coverup the cracks in their perceived dominance. Cut that tree down!
Really good read, Jeremy! Thanks for putting this all together. On top of all that you've outlined here, I also see how white supremacy comes into play in reproductive rights conversations. When we zoom in on who is most impacted, who makes least in the workforce, and who is criminalized the most when not in accordance with these debilitating lack-of-rights, we see that Black women are most inflicted. That, layered with the increased mortality rate of Black mothers during birth, it seems yet another way to ensure that whiteness does not become a minority in a country that has systematically--and historically--treated minorities like non-humans.
So true! Thanks for adding 🙏
This analysis is a good start for those wanting to get their feet wet about this issue.
There lacks, however, an intersectional understanding of patriarchy, capitalism, and settler colonial heteronormativity..
These mechanisms weave together to maintain the twin roots of all our current -isms: anti-Nativeness and anti-Blackness.
We can't analyze modern capitalism especially without talking about the plantation trafficking of African / Black people that built this entire economic infrastructure.
All of this occurring on stolen land. So we, likewise, can't analyze modern socio-political discourse without recognizing the way our entire political system refuses to honor the sovereignty of Native nations nor does it uphold the Treaties.
I would highly recommend the writer and readers alike dig deeper into especially Native / Black feminist discourse re: "hatred of women". Because this notion that "men don't hate women" just isn't true. I think you need to unpack how that hatred manifests.
Finally: readers and writers alike really need to dig into the exploitation of children and the MOST unprotected population in this entire colonial franchise. The exploitation, abuse of, and subjugation of children is the undercurrent of patriarchy itself.
It is the hatred of children and the wombs that create them that is the driving force of everything you've stated in this article. Everything you've talked about are ways the colonial system justifies this hatred.
Because, at the end of the day, patriarchy isn't the "rule of men."
It's the "rule of the father." And that's a nuance that is not fully illuminated in most critiques of our modern society.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I definitely am still learning how all the isms connect. I'll admit I have a blindspot about colonialism and heteronormativity. I come from Marxist circles where capitalism is the primary target of analysis. I'm still learning.
I appreciate your time here and I'm glad you wrote this article.
What I really like about this piece is following the paper trail. The reciepts. Because THAT shows us what is important to any given society because it's irrefutable.
For example, a federal judge recently ruled against Fearless Fund which is a grant pool to specifically support Black women. While I could go on and on about the way this country bombs entire Black cities when they make too much money, dismantle Black owned banks, defunds Black schools when the white kids start wanting to go there, etc etc etc
We can look at where the money goes, but we can also look at where the money is STYMIED, disrupted, or cut off altogether.
Even without historical analysis that show us this country tears successful Black communities to shreds (while tokenizing Black individuals as success of capitalism) the reality is that Black and Native communities as a whole are not allowed to thrive, gain economic momentum, or socio-economic mobility unless they are heavily surveilled / regulated by the state.
But more than just money: we can look at the statistics of violence/homicide toward women/ queer and children and see that the overwhelming majority of these crimes are committed by cis het males.
Not every cis het man is beating on others, but of the people that ARE enacting heinous violence, they are almost always cis het men. There is something to be said here about a collective hatred that is allowed to exist even if not everyone is allowed or encouraged to participate.
In other words: there is an acceptable level of violence that is allowed to exist because it is the boots on the ground of patriarchy capitalism. The same capitalism that is quick to block and defund non-white spaces is the same patriarchy that gives white land owning Christian cis het men 2 years probation after sexually assaulting a child.
They play off one another.
Excellent addition to a wonderful piece!
Thank you for writing about this. It is equal parts exhausting and infuriating to only hear our (women's) own voices and our own pain when dealing with this craziness. I'm always wondering where the husbands and the fathers and the brothers are. Then I wised up and realized most of them just don't give a shit - they don't even like the women in their lives. You're clearly a gem.
Thank you! 🙏
Anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ policies are a primary focus now and also being used to galvanize voters across religious, race and economic lines to vote against their interests. These two issues, along with the goal to strengthen the superiority of fathers and keep women at home, are major issues in the Project 2025 agenda. I expect it to work since most people want access to as much privilege as possible and can’t see that the end game does not include them.
I agree about the “workers” explanation but I don’t think it’s just Republicans. Birth rates are dropping all over the world and countries are worried about their entitlements and their military might. I think plenty of both parties in the military and jail industries want more people.
Russia’s birth rate is lower than America’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to war in Ukraine to increase its population. China’s birth rate is even lower than Russia’s.
When Dobb’s was eradicated, abortions increased. The GOP realized that women can have abortions without walking through a gauntlet of harassing right to lifers so they are trying to get rid of mifepristone. If they are successful at endings access to mifepristone, they’ll go after all contraceptives - especially IUDs and the shot which are less visible and longer lastly.
If Biden wins on Dobbs and nothing changes in reproductive rights, you’ll know they are in on it too.
Great mention of the prison industries - as much as capitalism relies on white men in the workforce and white women in the home, it also relies on black men to become incarcerated slave labor for the state.
It’s not enough for Biden to win. Just to be clear. If it were- we would not be here. The Senate AND Congress have to be enough of a D majority (and other left leaning- 3rd parties), and the current SCOTUS must be dismantled. No matter what laws are put in places, that corrupt cesspool will do pretzels to prevent any effective change. Vote like your life depends on it- every time. Local, state, and federal. Because it is becoming clear- it does, if you are a woman, POC, LGBTQ+, or any other marginalized community.
I always vote - I always will vote. This whole scaring minorities to vote for Democrats is getting tiring. For once could someone please go talk to all the White men and especially the White women!
It is clear that Democrats talk about all the issues that POC and LBGTQ and other folks consider quality of life issues…. Then they blame procedure and the GOP why nothing changes. Congress is divided but the GOP manages to stack SCOTUS, gerrymander the hell out their districts, and intimidate the media into reporting “it’s both sides.
The DACA kids are grandparents now and they still are in limbo. Women have less rights than their moms. Black people are still those scary criminals who don’t want to work while simultaneously taking your spot in college and your job. I think the only reason Gay Marriage hasn’t been repealed is because White men are in that group.
It should be obvious to you who I am voting for, I don’t need a lecture. I know what the stakes are for me and my community. If the democrats want to be successful at attracting more voters - they should start with producing for the voters they have.
Cannot agree more. I am often befuddled at my fellow white women😭. But know a few of us are trying to help. And are grateful to the other communities that actually saved our asses these past decades with their votes.
I totally agree!
Thanks for this. Great synthesizing of how capitalists and the religious right have formed an unholy union to try and control workers.
Thanks for reading, Katharine!
Spot on. Thanks for sharing this.
Awesome. Subscribing.
Have you heard of this documentary called "Indebted to All Women"? I highly recommend it. It's painful and at times, infuriating but there's one point where one of the activists says this: "Control over women is also based on a logic of domination and acceptance which is very useful for the economic system as long as it ensures the low-cost reproduction of life that will become a workforce within the logic of capitalism. Thus in my opinion, while we are having this discussion about legislation in terms of black and white, we should not forget the symbolic significance that implies sustaining the oppression of patriarchal system, in order to maintain the status quo".
The documentary is available on YT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2FCg7Aevg0&t=2s
It all makes sense when we understand this point of view. Thank you for writing about this!
Thanks for sharing!!!
One of the strongest reasons to admit more, rather than fewer, immigrants is to enhance our ability to support important social programs like Social Security and Medicare. New people pay the taxes that support the rest of us. Immigrants make society stronger not weaker. Everything said above clarifies one element of the anti abortion movement, but hostility to women still undergirds many of these types of laws. Whether they are rich or poor, a competent woman is a threat to them.
I think your theory on why Republicans would prefer a higher native birth rate makes economic sense to drive consumption and create more workers; thus pushing up profits for the corporate donor class that supports the GOP agenda. However, I’m curious why the same calculus wouldn’t apply to immigration. Wouldn’t allowing more people to enter the country legally able to work accomplish the same economic outcomes? Flash back to the late 19th/early 20th century and business leaders were successful making mass legal immigration available here in the US.
Or is the GOP simply more successful using immigration as a wedge to energize their base, while undocumented workers prop up industry anyways?
If we are talking pure economic productivity, Jeff is right. In fact, a young adult coming into the country, ready to contribute on day one ought to be “worth more” than a needy little infant. Where that obvious math breaks down is that recognizing it softens the hard edge of hate and entitlement that bring out the white supremacists to keep the Republicans in power. Every non-white person who gets on a path to earn their citizenship is perceived to have the potential to cancel out the vote of an angry white man.
The real key is that many white women are not going to go along with patriarchy UNLESS there is some racial superiority offered to them and theirs. They would rather be second class, behind only white men, than 5th or 6th class behind all of the men of every ethnic background.
Sadly, the MAJORITY of white women voted for the sexual assault-prone Combover King in both 2016 and 2020.
https://www.voanews.com/amp/usa_all-about-america_women-outnumber-and-outvote-men-they-dont-vote-alike/6205437.html
It's not as simple as hating us. It's apathy about our lives. They simply don't care if women die to further their goals or those of their patriarchal God.
Probably more about needing more and more cannon fodder.
The White Male tree house has a sign, No Girls Allowed. They project their fears constantly as to coverup the cracks in their perceived dominance. Cut that tree down!
He’s so god damned UGLY