I must get the full picture
Know the importance of all factors in the situation, as best I can.
And reality is more complicated than generalizations.
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance.
Being denied promotion is a result of judgment by the patriarchy.
And being awarded a promotion is a result of judgment by the patriarchy.
This is because leadership is usually male, and males care about winning. They don’t really care about feelings, or your gender, or whether a group is diverse. They care about whether you can lead definitively and produce effectively.
Those who work more are rewarded more. This is because the job market is a field of competition. If you are male and can’t compete, you are left behind. And if you’re a female and can’t compete, you, too, are left behind.
Competition doesn’t care about who you are. It cares about what you do better than other people.
Feeling victimized if I don’t excel in this competition is like walking on the football field and asking, “Why do only big guys get to play?”
Of course, there is sexism in the workplace, and it prejudges women. This is one of many factors that affect your success in the marketplace. Of all these factors, the one that most powerfully impacts my success is not trying.
Maybe I don’t try because I see myself as being helpless to the boss, or helpless to the system. But victimizing myself reveals my subservient nature. It’s an attitude which allows others to rule my life.
And yet, the patriarchy does not rule me… or you. It is not your friend, and it is not your enemy.
It is an invisible hand that rewards skills, competence, and drive.
It rewards toughness over agreeableness.
The patriarchy is not a moral entity. That’s like saying a river is moral or immoral depending on where it flows. The patriarchy is a state of being that maximizes wins and minimizes loss, like Evolution, which relentlessly removes the weak from the herd through competition, so that the herd maintains its strength.
But, unlike a river, the patriarchy is not just a force of nature, but also a manifestation of humanity’s values.
If the patriarchy changes, it is a change which comes from within us, from a change in nature, and a change in nurture…a change in what you choose to nurture and encourage in your life.
The patriarchy is not a conspiracy from an authority which favors members of its own kind, but a natural progression of competition and societal values. It is who we are…for now. And as a consumer/producer/employee, you decide what is acceptable, through your actions, and how you choose to live your life.
So… what do you choose?
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