[Lauchenoiria]

Opinion: Democracy is a Patriarchal Endeavour
By Councillor Natalia Hart

Support for democracy has been on the rise across the globe since the beginning of the 20th century, with the replacement of monarchies and neo-feudal systems with a new representative system of government ‘by the people’. In many countries, if not most, democracy is synonymous with a fair, ethical system of rule that should be lauded and promoted across the globe. Initiatives to increase democratic systems of government are many, and even in countries such as Kerlile support for the concept is growing.

Sadly, democracy is not what it is advertised as. A fair system of government, in which every citizen is given an equal vote and the government is chosen by the people sounds like an excellent idea on paper but in practice it doesn’t work that way. A system of government in which all citizens, including the uneducated and uninformed, are given equal say will naturally produce leaders that appeal to the lowest common denominator. Elections will almost always reproduce cultural norms - even if those norms are unethical to begin with.

Unfortunately, despite the efforts of feminists throughout the 20th century into the present day, the predominant global culture remains patriarchal in nature. Advertising, policy priorities and general societal attitudes still promote men as stronger and women as domestic workers and sex symbols. In a world where cultural norms dictate that the priorities of males are more important than the priorities of females, democratic systems will continue to elect governments who put men above women in their policy priorities.

Change in societal attitudes towards women thus is slower in democracies. When a patriarchal government can claim it has the ‘mandate of the people’ in its policies which continue to oppress women, it is harder to call out said government for its crimes against femininity. No foreign government will sanction the democratic state for their archaic marriage laws, their insufficient protections against sexual assault, or their traditional gender roles enforced not by law but by cultural norms. These governments have ‘the people’ on side, and thus they are deemed legitimate regardless of their actions.

Democracy is a tool of the powerful - which in this world is usually men - used to maintain their power by handing the illusion of control to the people while continuing business as usual. We see this in countries such as Eiria where multiple political parties of differing persuasions will still work together, as underneath the publicly stated policy goals, they all have the same underlying goal of maintaining the status quo. The willingness of the Lauchenoirian Liberals to work with the Conservatives one year and the Green-Pacifists the next is yet another example.

In democratic states where women have managed to achieve high positions, you can see how they have compromised themselves in their quest for power. In some nations, female politicians are forced to dress up in new outfits every day while men are allowed to turn up in the same suit day-in, day-out. In others, to be successful, women must act as much like men as possible so that voters almost forget their gender. Neither is good; these women are being forced into a mould by the patriarchy and their power is only ever fleeting; a temporary gift from the patriarchy that will quickly be taken away if they dare enact policies that would truly threaten the misogynistic status quo.

This is the truly insidious nature of democracy; it pretends to be about enabling change and distributing power to the masses, but instead it concentrates power in the hands of a few individuals skilled at manipulating public opinion, while maintaining the status quo by putting up a smokescreen. In countries where women are oppressed, their opinions will not be given equal weight, and thus political parties will target the male vote, and thus the oppression of women will become evermore entrenched through the false ‘mandates’ given to parties who do not care as much about their female citizens as their male.

The only way to improve the lives of women in a country, is through policies designed to root out the deeply held internal biases in favour of men held in the population. It is by mandating greater opportunities for women rather than assuming a system designed for men will self-correct, as this can never be assumed. Strong leadership committed to changing society for the better is the only way to truly change a country from a patriarchy into a truly equal society, not a government serving only four years which can change on a whim and needs the approval of the already-powerful to remain in place.

The Matriarchy of Kerlile is the vanguard of the women’s revolution. While government by the people is a laudable end-goal, it cannot be implemented in a society which is not yet equal, or it will only further entrench those inequalities. The Council of Kerlile was set up to safeguard that revolution; to guide society towards a place where women were truly viewed as equal, both consciously and subconsciously. To create an equal world, the remaining patriarchal countries must consider drastic measures, and must turn away from this idea that democracy in an inherently unequal society will produce a truly representative government.