Buckle Daddy In The Back Seat, It's Momma's Turn To Drive

Written by Dian Sousa | 05 March 2009

But who might She be and what might that mean to a predatory society whose teeth are rotten and broken from biting off the sweetness from people’s lives and greedily chewing through the sacred bones of our ailing planet?  Does it mean it’s time to buckle Daddy in the back seat and let Momma drive? Tear down the patriarchy and usher in the matriarchy?

First, a few definitions: (Where is Ambrose Bierce when you need him?)2

Patriarchy: Rule by the Father. Or as we have unfortunately experienced it, rule by rich, old, white men (with the exception of John Muir, Walt Whitman, and Johnny Appleseed) who have twisted the concepts of guilt and power in the prevalent monotheistic theology and used them to dominate people,3 poison the land, wage war, and make money on the backs of women, children, and indigenous peoples. Give them some Pepto Bismol and a large bucket, their empire is turning to toxic ash.

Patriarchal Oligarchy: Corrupt and selfish rule by a small, elite group. The few old patriarchs wearing 24 carat gold-threaded golf sweaters while doing their soulless business in the corridors of the White House and around the water coolers of the World Bank and trying not to laugh too loud as they successfully pass it off as capitalism and Democracy.

Matriarchy: Rule by the Mother. The word Matriarchy often evokes stern, preternaturally hairy Amazonians in big hemp underwear whipping old guys in golf sweaters and drinking organic borsht at the kitchen table while legislating March as National Tofu-Liver and Onion Month.  Please note that the borsht is organic,
hemp is highly renewable, and tofu doesn’t come from a crammed feedlot.

Matriarchy. Patriarchy. Oligarchy. No one really likes these words. They are too black and white, too monolithic for a battered nation in the bitter midst of uncovering the despicable crimes and terrible welts left from beatings the whole world took during the last eight years of one of the nastiest Patriarchal Oligarchies in modern history.
As Riane Eisler writes in, The Chalice and the Blade, patriarchy or matriarchy will never really work because they are based ‘on the ranking of one half of humanity over the other.’ As a woman though, dominating the other half sounds like fun because my turn is long overdue. Having a reverence for the Mother Earth and for my brothers and sisters living on it with me, however, I know that domination only works if everyone is wearing leather. Otherwise patriarchy and the domination it has bred needs to be quickly filed in the obsolete pile with Bronze Age marauder ideology and Bush/Cheney bumper stickers.

Riane Eisler suggests we not use the word matriarchy, but rather the concept of partnership inherent in the ‘effeminate qualities such as caring, compassion, and non-violence’ to define the change that must first take place in our consciousness before it can become a foundation for our economic and political policies.

Close your eyes and imagine that we are finally sick unto death of war and of supporting its ugly machinery and begin instead to use our creativity, courage, and energy to help turn our Earth green again.  Imagine community gardens in every town where people grow real food and real connections. Imagine 20 or less children in every classroom being taught science, languages, music, and art by well-paid teachers. Imagine universal single payer healthcare. Imagine equality. Now open your eyes and help Momma drive us to a better place.

Footnotes:

1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2. Ambrose Bierce’ The Devil’s Dictionary
3. Two current examples include the Iraq war and Prop 8.

Dian Sousa plans to usher in the Matriarchy and there is nothing you can do to stop her.