F*CK the Patriarchy
Until the late into the Eras tour in America, I was not a Swiftie. I mean of course I know all the words to Love Story but other than that I couldn’t have picked up a Taylor Swift song in a line up. Era’s tour performances started showing up on my FYP which led me down a bit of a Taylor Swift rabbit hole. I can now say with certainty, I am a Swiftie but it has nothing to do with her music.
I am a Swiftie because when she stood on stage and yelled F*CK THE PATRIACHY – the world shifted a little and men the world over felt a shiver down their spine as we, the woman, echoed her. We echoed her in our bathroom mirrors, we echoed her while lulling our baby girls to sleep, we echoed her loud and proud with our friends while we danced, we echoed her when we came face to face with men, every single day.
Collectively we yelled F*CK THE PATRIACHY and we meant it.
Taylor Swift really meant and every time she gets on stage to packed audiences she yells it. Her unrivalled success is the exclamation point to F*CK THE PATRIACHY and I am here for it!
.I grew up in a time where even saying the word F&CK as a woman was unheard of. Ladies didn’t swear – they were demure. Men led homes, often with a closed hand. Women were demure, they did not complain, not in public anyway. They cooked, they cleaned, they gave birth to babies and they towed the line. We were called honey, little lady. We did not speak up. We took minutes in meetings and we were demure.
It is a different time now and every day girls and woman are standing up, taking up space and advocating for themselves. We are no longer little lady and we not demure.
But it is not easy, especially for those us who were raised to be demure. Our default is often to be silent and to shrink, when we do stand up and advocate for ourselves, it is hard.
This week I was once again confronted by the patriarchy – old white men who are feeling their power seep away but are holding on with all their might.
The interaction was a sheer power play. They were slamming their fists on their chests, demanding I be demure and back down but I will not back down. F*CK THE PATRIACHY.
When I was telling my friend this story, she told me a very similar story. Middle aged white men desperate for control, doing whatever they needed to make the woman shut up. F*CK THE PATRIACHY.
Here and I are both middle aged white woman, we are both confident, strong woman who use our voice…..most of the time. Standing up to men still terrifies us but we are doing it anyway and every day more and more woman are arguing, disagreeing and refusing to be anyone’s little lady.
Taylor Swift most definitely didn’t start this movement, there are many many strong woman who have come before her and made huge strides for woman. The biggest difference is that she is doing it extremely publicly. She is being very loud about it. She is doing exactly what she wants, when she wants and how she wants.
Hopefully the more say F*CK THE PATRIACHY, the less we will have to. I hope my daughters live in a world where they are never asked to take minutes, purely because they are woman or to make coffee or called little lady.
