A Response to Capitalist Patriarchy

Capitalist patriarch sitting behind me at the Amy documentary post-film discussion with opinions aplenty, join me for a moment of reflection. 

Although you insist that “we all get what we want,” which is an assertion that almost made my head explode, the reality is that most of us do NOT get what we want.

Perhaps your life of white male privilege has blinded you to others’ experiences to the extent that you no longer have the capacity to recognize that we are not you.

Instead of declaring such things as “art doesn’t exist without business,” might I suggest that you pause for a moment and consider that perhaps art exists in spite of business?

That woman only wanted to write and sing and it seems that the people making money off of her talent only saw her as a commodity instead of as a beautiful, thoughtful, breakable human artist.

All you got from that film was a cynical observation that “film is a construct” instead of a glimpse into a potentially devastating and uncomfortable reality that media and news outlets haven’t allowed us to see.

Lamentable, is my instinctive response to you; but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?

I see your unwillingness to consider that women experience life and business differently than men as a socially-induced ignorance that you long ago accepted for your own comfort.

So, you get everything you want?

That’s certainly a bold statement resonating with privilege that you sadly don’t even recognize as privilege.

Perhaps you think all of your success was simply a result of your personal hard work that had nothing to do with the pale pinkness of your skin or the family that raised you or the schools you attended or the community that influenced you or the media and news outlets and reading that taught you how to see the world or the people who gave you more chances and trusted you simply because you are a white man.

And I bet you were shocked when I didn’t politely accommodate you.

Tough shit.

Representations of women and our experiences are not to be mocked or dismissed or relegated to some convenient box of explanation that makes the world sensible to you.

I and every other woman on the planet have a different and conflicting version of your worldview.

Achieving respect, parity, fairness, and that basic instantaneous trust that you have enjoyed for a lifetime is something that every woman deserves and we will not stop until we win.

Reach for your comforting blanket because your time is passing and your ideas are dying.

Can you feel that chill gust of inevitability on your spine?

How does it feel to watch yourself become the minority?

You are the construct, capitalist patriarch, and your voice diminishes with each passing day; you will lose.