Women Are Rising in Droves in Government—Does This Mean Patriarchy is Dead?

It’s almost two years now since women all over the world took to the streets in the hundreds of thousands to protest the election of Donald Trump, and to challenge patriarchy.  Throughout that year and the next they continued their marches, speaking against sexual misconduct, determined to get their message across.

In November of this year, 121 women were elected to the US congress, ending male domination of that institution for as long as it has existed.

Are these two events linked? And will the energy and focus of their actions mean the end of patriarchy in the US?

We knew it could happen

It became clear during the lead-up to the election, that women were poised to make significant electoral gains in this election. The media was buzzing with news that scores of women were signing up to put their names on the ballot.

For many older women, who tried and failed over the decades, to break through the glass ceiling of corporate and political patriarchy, this was an exciting prospect. We knew, deep down, that this time was different—the massive woman’s marches and the #MeToo movement had set the stage for change.

What is becoming increasingly evident to everyone now, after the election, is that the protests were only part of this massive movement. Thousands of other women were working locally, nationally and globally to bring about political change. Many of them had busy lives, but they made time for this work between dropping off children at school, caring for their parents, and sometimes holding more than one job.

They were not alone. They were assisted by powerful women already in the political arena, like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said:

“Women who had never run for anything stepped up to put their names on the ballot. They ignored the party bosses who said they should wait their turn. They ignored the consultants who said they should cover up their tattoos and smile more, and they ignored the powerful men of the Republican Party who never took them seriously anyway. They refused to let anyone shut them up or stand in their way, and that is how real change begins.”

We have been here before

The rise of women in all areas previously dominated by men is not a new idea. Women have been working and hoping for this for decades. Our mothers and grandmothers lived with the reality of male patriarchy every day of their lives.

But we could not have predicted the extent of the disruption during the past few months, and we could not have predicted the intensity of the #MeToo movement, which was, essentially, a protest about sexual abuse of women.

The movement, already in motion, gained momentum with the election of Donald Trump, which many women saw as yet another unqualified man taking a job not rightfully his, and pushing aside the person who could do it better. It was a major demonstration against what they knew, in their hearts, was a grave injustice—and it made the world stand still and pay attention.

It’s recognized now that the energy for this movement came from deep within the history of women—their survival, their work, and the quest for personal independence.

What the election of Donald Trump really meant

What Donald Trump represented, and what he still represents, is the unequal balance of power given to unqualified, undeserving, and ill-equipped men.

Rather than give power to a woman, which to many is unknown and dangerous territory, people prefer to give it to men, who have always had it. This is not a surprise for many who have seen this happen time and time again, in the workplace, in the justice system and in the home.

Inequity of power goes back to the beginning of time, when women, physically weaker, and responsible for the birth and caring of children, needed men for survival. They were forced to stand by silently while experiencing and witnessing grave injustices against them and other women. Speaking up was more dangerous than you can imagine, with physical safety, financial security and respectability at risk.

When a woman protested her treatment by a man, it was she, not the perpetrator, who lost everything. Those were the repercussions of speaking up

Why this time is different

Women are tired of those social injustices—finally, as a cohesive, motivated group, we are better placed to do something about it, even though we had to be pushed to the limit before we took action.

Thanks to the brave voices who have spoken up this year—it all changes now.

Danielle Newnham, author of Female Innovators at Work, knows this time has come. She says:

“You see, women have been held back for so long, we lost our identity. We lost the ability to speak up when the very things we knew were wrong took its toll. We kept our silence to keep the peace.”

And now that the silence is broken, and acquiescence has given way to disruption, is Patriarchy finally falling? Will women take their place in building a better world?

The answer is “Yes!”, according to Margaret Mead, who said,

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”