What comes to mind when you think of the term patriarchy? How is patriarchy both passively and actively maintained, and how might Solnit and Wildman approach this question?
The most immediate perception that comes to mind when one thinks of patriarchy is the aspect of masculinity and male dominance. It is a situation whereby men feel superior to women in one way or the other. In this case, patriarchy is viewed as a major impediment to the women’s development and advancement. In spite of the variations in the dominance levels, the entire principles have often remained unchanged due to the men’s control. Their nature of control might differ at some point. This hence calls for a necessity of understanding the system that keeps women subordinate and dominated, and to disentangle its esteemed workings so as to systematically work for women’s growth and development. In the contemporary world whereby lead by merit, patriarchy tends to create obstacles that bars women from moving forward in society. This is because of the established social relations and patriarchal institutions responsible for the women’s inferior status.

On the other hand, it can be presumed that a patriarchal society accord men an absolute priority, thereby limiting the women’s rights to some extent. Patriarchy is seen as a form of male dominance both in the private and public spheres. In this manner, the term ‘patriarchy’ is often used by feminists when describing the power relations between women and men. They also utilize this concept when trying to find out the primary cause of subordination subjected to women. Patriarchy has, therefore, been actively and passively maintained based on the linkage between the aspect of organized violence in various non-industrialized societies and gender-based division of labor in the industrialized societies. It can thus be suggested that there exist a closer association between the contemporary forms of male domination and the modern war.

The entire explanations and understanding of patriarchy have been well-defined and disseminated by Wildman and Solnit in various ways. From their scripts, they are both inclined to a common consensus on how men tend to feel superior to women. This is primarily based on ways in which men’s language, arguments, and perceptions are automatically oppressive to the women’s conscious nature. They mainly depict and value the power associated with their masculine nature, at the expense of women’s feminism.

Spend some time with Wildman’s “Language and Silence.” Of particular note are the hydra, the kooshball, and the power of silence. What were your major takeaways? Any real-life connections?
With a close look into the aspects of the power of silence, kooshball, and hydra; Wildman’s “Language and Silence” seems to be one of the most insightful scripts on the concepts of oppression and inequality. The author brings out constructive and critical arguments applicable in real life situation. The most interesting segment is this analysis is the concepts of powerlessness and power, and the concept claiming that the achievement of power is directly correlated with education. The only bigger challenge is the act of redressing the effects of oppression by mainly taking into consideration its primary structures, ranging from exploitation, marginalization, and the power concept itself. The main point of concern, in this case, it’s the urge of perpetuating equality with regards to the access authority and power. The concept has been analyzed through identification of cultural imperialism, determination of norms. One of the moving statements concerns the arbitrary nature for determination of worth based social groupings. These involve the aspects of prejudice, discrimination, stereotyping and exclusion, which exist since some individuals mistakenly presume that group identification tends to make a greater difference in their temperament, virtues, or capabilities.

Another significant and practical element brought about by Wildman is the identification of language as a primary tool for cultural imperialism perpetuating oppression. It contributes to the regeneration and invisibility of privilege. As an oppression tool, language is often used to classify people by norms, gender, social status, and many other groupings that instigate inequality. From all these, it can be ascertained that Wildman’s conceptions directly reflects on the real life perspectives.