WUNRN
A system where women exchange their equality for survival….
TRANSFORMING
THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER
TO A
HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM
TOWARD
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR ALL
A Proposal for a Worldwide Campaign
To Transcend Patriarchy Through Human Rights
Learning
Breaking Through the Vicious Cycle of Humiliation
Organized
and prepared by Shulamith Koenig
PDHRE,
People’s Movement for Human Rights
Learning
Tel:1-212-749-3156 Fax -1212-666-632
E
mail – pdhre@igc.org Website: www.pdhre.org
TRANSFORMING THE PATRIARCHAL ORDER
INTO ONE INFORMED AND ENERGIZED BY HUMAN
RIGHTS.
Breaking through the vicious cycle of humiliation to achieve economic and social justice for all
*************************************************************************************************************
This
paper is the second position paper on the subject and a call for the launching
of a worldwide dialogue of transforming the patriarchal world order into one
informed and energized by human rights. These are central and crucial issues of
gender equality and gender justice which are integral to all other major global
concerns re economic and social justice.
This position paper attempts to take into account the numerous
suggestions received from more than 150 people from around the world on
significant elements that should be addressed.
While it does not claim to include all the suggestions received, we have
attempted to incorporate those most helpful to the reformulation of a statement
in light of the principles and purposes which motivates PDHRE, People’s
Movement for Human Rights Learning.
We
anticipate that many thoughtful, well informed persons will have additional and
alternative interpretations of the issues, as well as, varying positions on
actions to respond to conditions of human inequality. We do not present an
extensive description and explanation of gender issues on which there is a
major body of literature. Our purpose
is to encourage the articulation of and reflection on all relevant
interpretations and to catalyze action to overcome the underlying problems of
patriarchy. Toward these ends we offer
this invitation to participate in a campaign of intense discussion and dynamic
action to transform the patriarchal world order into one informed and energized
by human rights.
We
are seeking the cooperation of community associations, NGOs, schools,
universities and adult learning groups in a transformative learning
process. We invite all to join us in an
inquiry into the nature and manifestations of the mind set, behaviors and
social institutions that have separated people and maintained the powerful and
the disempowered. Patriarchy, the most fundamental and universal form of human
inequality has contributed to a general pattern of hierarchical organization of
most social institutions and myriad forms of inequality among all human beings
throughout the world.
PDHRE, an education and advocacy NGO working to
assure that all human beings know and have the capacity to claim their human
rights, holds that this mind set, and its constituent behaviors and social
institutions comprise contemporary forms patriarchy that deny true and complete human dignity to all men, women and
children. We believe that through a
process of human rights learning and action, societies can transcend patriarchy
and bring forth an alternative mind set, behaviors and social institutions
derived from the values and principles of human rights that is guided and
governed by the international standards that the world community has adopted
toward their universal realization.
PDHRE, being a leader in the development of the world-wide movement for
human rights education for social transformation, has proposed and worked for
the fulfillment of declaration of the
United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004.)
2.
Patriarchalism, a Major Obstacle to Universal Human Dignity
Patriarchy
in its literal sense means the rule of the fathers. Having its roots in tribal society, it was
institutionalized in post tribal societies into more complex religious, social
and legal systems and formal governmental structures such as the senate of
ancient Rome and most subsequent governments.
The word senator derives from a Latin word meaning old man. Throughout
recorded history in most human societies some form of patriarchy rule by
powerful men has prevailed, reinforced by cultural values derived from systems
of male dominance. It has been so commonly and continually practiced as to
appear natural rather than a humanly constructed social order that is both
changing and changeable. In its present
form, patriarchy has become more an ideology and belief system rather than the
explicit social and political systems of earlier times. Even in countries where legal equality of
women and men has been established, the deep psychological and cultural roots
of patriarchy survive as a belief system
in the minds of many women and men. We
propose to call this belief system patriarchalism.
Patriarchalism
asserts the superiority of all males to all females and arranges this
fundamental inequality in a hierarchal order in which middle aged men now hold
primary power over all others, controlling economy, military educational and
religious institutions. Men in general are more powerful, enjoying more
advantages than women. Western men have more power in the global order than men
from other world regions.
Women
of a higher economic class have more power than both men and women of lower
income and poverty status. At the very
bottom of this hierarchy are the vulnerable and oppressed of the world, most of
all the aged, children, and women; with
the most vulnerable being the aged, poor women of color.
A result of Western colonialism, another manifestation of patriarchalism, was the evolution of White racism, holding Caucasian Western peoples to be superior to those whose origins lie in other world regions. In such a social order even the most powerful suffer limits of choice and respect. All are denied full human dignity. Indeed, patriarchal values and thinking intensify and obscure solutions in regard to most of the major problems that now threaten the health of our planet. Ecological devastation, warfare and weaponry, racial, ethnic and religious conflict, poverty, disease and ever increasing political repression, even in the so called “democratic” states are more complex and difficult to address because of the limits imposed on human capacities and creativity by the gendered power divisions that comprise patriarchalism. There is a vast literature in feminist and gender studies that clearly links elements of patriarchalism or sexism to all of these threats. Some of the more recent studies in masculinities link aspects of male identity formation to physical forcefulness and the potential for aggression.. We need not rehearse these assertions here. However, it is important to acknowledge that PDHRE asserts that patriarchalism is the antithesis of the ideology of human rights; and that the human rights provide the core of an alternative belief system that can transcend the limits patriarchalism imposes on the realization of human possibilities and the fulfillment of human dignity.
Furthermore,
we assert that human rights standards can and should be brought to bear on all
the global problems that threaten human survival, and the quality of life of
the majority of Earth’s peoples.
3.
Human Rights, an Alternative Vision for Human Society
Most
of the positive changes that have occurred in human society been inspired by
the fundamental concept and value that informs human rights, the inherent
dignity of all human beings of both sexes, all races, ages, capacities,
ethnicities, religions and nationalities.
However, throughout history the vast majority of human beings have not
enjoyed human rights.
While
all human rights denials and violations are not consequences of patriarchy,
many are. Indeed, patriarchy has been
the template of the authoritarian, elitist forms of social organization and
governance that have tolerated, sanctioned or committed such systematic and
perpetual human rights violations as enslavement sexism, racism, exploitation
and oppression, and other such egregious insults to human dignity.
Concepts
of human rights have emerged in the human mind and spirit, as an alternative to
human suffering and degradation. Human
rights has become a code phrase for a value system, an arrangement of human
relationships and social organization grounded in the concepts of universal
human dignity, human capacity to live together in justice and social
responsibility to strive toward societies in which justice and order are
equally valued and mutually reinforcing. In sum, human rights comprise a
holistic vision of a transformed society in which men, women, youth and
children live together in relationships of respect that honor universal human
dignity.
Human
rights is the concept which informs a mind set that perceives social order not
as an end in itself or as the tool by which established powers maintain their
dominance. It is rather the condition
which permits the pursuit of social, economic and political justice by means
other than coercion, intimidation, the force of arms or the imposition of
dysfunctional or harmful cultural traditions.
The ethos which informs the principles of and movements for human
rights is one that aspires to convivial human societies in which men and women
of various cultures, political and religious beliefs and different social
systems can live together in mutual respect, cooperating in the struggle to
overcome all the obstacles to human dignity perpetuating the human suffering
imposed by the present world order.
We
believe that human rights are a set of principles to guide and mediate human
affairs in ways which honor the human worth of all persons. The international human rights standards have
been formulated and adopted by the world community as tools of social
transformation toward a world guided by just law rather than the raw force
which prevails in today global society.
4.
Toward Transformation: Mapping the Presence and Patterns of Patriarchy and
Planning Strategies for Change
Given
the global problems and the obstacles to their resolution attributable to
patriarchalism, the need now is to look into the specifics of how this mind set
affects our daily lives, how it manifests itself, and how it influences the
social, economic and political issues faced by our respective communities and
our common global society. A worldwide
inquiry at the community level into
the specific ways in which patriarchalism affects individuals and communities
in their daily lives, personal relationships, economic activities, education,
creativity, political issues and structures and spiritual quests is an
imperative. We proposed to initiate such
an inquiry at the local level in communities around all world regions.
An
understanding of these specifics of patrirachalism is necessary, so that
families, communities and nations can work together to overcome them.
Differences and similarities in these conditions as they exist in all parts of
the world must be investigated so as to have a better understanding of the
global state of patriarchalism. Many such local initiatives examining and
changing the inequalities and injustices that prevent men and women working
together for their mutual benefi,t in a more just social order will provide us
with a global map of patriarchalism as the men and women of the world now
experience it, in all its many, culturally varied manifestations.
We hope to facilitate serious, systematic
discussion and creative, constructive planning. Culturally appropriate means to
change the myriad and various forms of gender injustice, so that men and women
everywhere can help each other to learn new ways of thinking, relating,
developing their economies and making the political decisions that control
their lives. The sum of these changes
can lead us into a transformative process making possible the vision of a
global order of human rights culture where human dignity is universally
respected and realized by all members of the human family.
Toward
this end we invite all who hope for a life of dignity to join in this effort to
learn and act in a process of inquiry learning and strategizing toward social
transformation. To begin this human
rights learning process we offer the suggested questions to guide the
inquiries, discussions and actions of community groups, NGOs, classrooms, labor
unions, members of religious congregations and political parties, all groups
who are engaged in common endeavors.
5. Human Rights Learning, Empowerment to
Realize the Vision
Having taken the Initiative to facilitate the dialogue and the campaign, we look forward to being joined by many and varied organizations from around the world. Together we seek to invite the multitudes of women and men throughout the world to participate in this discussion.
As
our contribution we prepare human rights learning and will inform the campaign
how to transform patriarchy. We
offer our extensive experience in the initiation and implementation of human
rights education at the community level in formal and informal learning.
We
have held vigorous discussion with human rights educators of all kinds,
learning with them about the meaning and possibilities for human fulfillment
and social advancement that lie in human rights. We have seen
that human rights learning empowers people at all levels of society to
conceive, struggle for and realize long sought enjoyment of human dignity.
We
have learned that a transformational form of learning is one producing inner change as
well as capacities empowering learners to bring about changes in the social
groups and structures of which they are a part.
The learning of human rights education capacitates learners to function
as agents of social justice to assure and implement human rights. Most
effective forms of human rights learning are those which engage learners in the
application of human rights principles to issues in their own lives.
FOR DISCUSSION: Questions to Discern and Describe Patriarchalism in Our Lives
1.
How do members of the group experience gender relations in their family
and personal lives?
How
are family decisions made? How is work
and leisure assigned and enjoyed?
How are jobs and social activities chosen and
arranged? What are the gender
differences in these matters? Are the
differences equally fair to women and men?
2. Do the traditions of your culture offer equal if different satisfactions to men and women? Are girl and boy babies welcomed with equal family pride, joy and community status for the parents? Are women who bear female children honored equally as those who bear male children? Do birth rituals and celebrations reflect equal value of both sexes?
3. Is schooling and any other form of education available to your group offered equally to boys and girls? Are there facilities for each? Are equal resources expended on both? Does the curricula developed allow for boys and girls equal educational opportunity and empower full citizenship?
4. Are men and women equally involved in the decisions about their own marriages? Do husband and wives have equal economic and political rights? In general is there gender justice and equality apparent in social and cultural life? Are entertainment, advertising, celebrations equally respectful of women and men?
5. Continue: Do women and men have equal access to paid work? Can both choose the kinds of jobs they prefer? If the same jobs are open to both men and women, do they receive the same pay?*
6. What is the ratio of men to women in public offices, town or tribal councils in your community, and in the governmental bodies in your province and nation?* Are the interests and concerns of families given adequate consideration in policy and decision-making in all these bodies?
Are the interests and concerns of men and women given equal consideration?
Do
some or all decisions favor one sex or the other? If so which decision and which is the favored
sex? How do you determine what is
favorable to one or both sexes, funds expended, gender consequences of the
policies, relative satisfaction with public policy between women and men?
7.
Do your country’s international delegations and representations have
equal numbers of women and men? If there
is equality does it apply to all subjects and issues addressed in international
meetings and by international organizations?
8. What do the members of the group find to be the advantages and disadvantages of being a man or a woman in your culture and society? What would they most want to change in their own respective status and that of the other? What person and/or what institutions would be needed to affect the changes? What can each individual do to plan, encourage and work for the change?
9. For each of these areas of life that have gender aspects, select indicators from your responses that reflect elements of patriarchalism and list them as indicators, assessing how severe each is. Which are most in need of change? Which seem most changeable and why? Which ones might the members of your group be able to change or begin a change process?
Which ones will require institutional or legal change?
10. Review UDHR and CEDAW to determine which of your indicators are actually violations of human rights?
11.
Plan a strategy to overcome the problems and implement the human rights
of your group that are being violated by patriarchalism. Use the matrix to
record the indicators, the rights violated and your strategies to protect and
implement the rights.
Notes:
A]
For each of these areas of life that have gender aspects, select indicators
from your responses that reflect elements of patriarchalism and list them as
indicators, assessing how severe each is. Which are most in need of
change? Which seem most changeable and
why? Which ones might the members of
your group be able to change or begin a change process? Which ones will require institutional or
legal change?
B]
Review UDHR and CEDAW to determine which of your indicators are actually
violations of HR?
C]
Plan a strategy to overcome the problems and implement the human rights of your
group that are being violated by patriarchalism. Use the matrix to record the
indicators, the rights violated and your strategies to protect and implement
the rights. Please send a copy of your
matrix and a record of your most important human rights learning to PDHRE at pdhrer@igc.org. Thank you for
joining this initiative towards a just world order informed by human
results.
Detailed Elements to Discern and Describe Patriarchalism in
Our Lives
1. Social Indicators
1.1
How do members of the group experience gender relations in their family and
personal lives?
1.2
How are family decisions made?
1.3
How is work and leisure assigned and enjoyed?
1.4
How are jobs and social activities chosen and arranged?
1.5
What are the gender differences in these matters?
1.6
Are the differences equally fair to women and men?
2. Cultural Indicators
2.1
Do the traditions of your culture offer equal if different satisfaction to men
and women?
2.2
Are girl and boy babies welcomed with equal family pride, joy and community
status for the parents?
2.3
Are women who bear female children honored equally as those who bear male children?
2.4
Do birth rituals and celebrations reflect equal value of both sexes?
3. Education Indicators
3.1
Is schooling and any other form of education available to your group offered
equally to boys and girls?
3.2
Are there separate facilities for each?
3.3
Are equal resources expended on both?
3.4
When curricula are developed separately for boys and girls are both given
education for full citizenship and equal educational opportunity?
4. Gender Equality Indicators in Marriage and
Work
4.1
Are men and women equally involved in the decisions about their own
marriages? 4.2 Do husband and wives have
equal economic and political rights?
4.3
In general is there gender justice and equality apparent in social and cultural
life?
4.4
Are entertainment, advertising, celebrations equally respectful of women and
men? 4.5 Do women and men have equal
access to waged work?
4.6
Can both choose the kinds of jobs they prefer?
4.7
If the same jobs are open to both men and women, do they receive the same pay?*
5.
Public Policy Indicators
5.1
What is the ratio of men to women in public offices, town or tribal councils in
your community, and in the
governmental bodies in your province and nation?*
5.2
Are the interests and concerns of families given adequate consideration in
policy and decision-making in all
these bodies?
5.3
Are the interests and concerns of men and women given equal consideration? Do some or all decisions favor one sex over
the other?
5.4
If so which decision and which is the favored sex?
5.5
How do you determine what is favorable to one or both sexes, funds expended,
gender consequences of the policies, relative satisfaction with public policy
between women and men?
6. Identity and Status Indicators
6.1
Do your country’s international delegations and representations have equal
numbers of women and men?
6.2
If there is equality does it apply to all subjects and issues addressed in
international meetings and by international organizations?
7.
7.1
What do the members of the group find to be the advantages and disadvantages of
being a man or a woman in your culture and society?
7.2
What would they most want to change in their own respective status and that of
the other?
7.3
What person and/or what institutions would have to affect the changes?
7.4What
can each individual do to plan, encourage and work for the change?