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fathering oppression
In a 1992 essay "Men in Feminist
Struggle - The Necessary Movement,"
bell hooks writes, 'There are no books
that adequately serve as maps explain
ing what patriarchy is, how it works,
and why they should be committed to
a feminist movement that opposes
sexism and sexist oppression."
Due to my relative unfamiliarity
with feminist literature, I wonder,
some 12 years after hooks' article, if
any such book exists, hooks notes in
the same essay that the "earliest writ
ings of the men's movement ex
pressed far more concern with dis
mantling patriarchy and eradicating
male domination of women and chil
dren than more recent work."
Given what hooks says, and regard
less of any books that have been pub
lished since, there seems to be a task
at hand for correction. First, 1 think a
definition of the word "patriarchy"
might be helpful. A good starting
place would be the dictionary, which
(according to Merriam-Webster On
line) broadly defines patriarchy as
"control by men of a disproportion
ately large share of power." I'll add to
this, and say such control equals do
minion over anything considered
"less" than male — this includes
women, nature and children.
The point of this discussion is not
to go digging in the past, or to
Aaron Shakra
Out of range
pigeonhole a large portion of the
population, but rather to show the
historical basis for patriarchy's exis
tence, which often allows oppression
to pass by unchecked or unseen.
While many of the more blatant
forms of oppression no longer exist, it
is the latent, or invisible, oppression
that is continually cultivated by insti
tutions and even ourselves. And this
unseen oppression is just as worri
some as any overt patriarchal oppres
sion. Unfortunately, patriarchy is con
tinually propagated as the perverted
norm. Now add to this the concept of
compulsive heterosexuality.
In Barrie Thorne and Zella Luria's
"Sexuality and Gender in Children's
Daily Worlds," they write, "In our cul
ture, gender and sexuality are deeply
intertwined, especially for adults;
'woman/man,' and especially 'femi
ninity/masculinity' are categories
loaded with heterosexual meanings."
Thorne and Luria note that "the
gender-divided social worlds of chil
dren are not totally asexual," and that
from the ages nine to 11 they are
"largely defined as children, but they
are on the verge of sexual maturity,
cultural adolescence, and a gender sys
tem organized around the institution
of heterosexuality."
A child's typical experience in ele
mentary school establishes and solid
ifies a patriarchal attitude towards the
world. This experience, of course, af
fects boys and girls, women and men,
and everyone in between. Thome and
Luria note that gender segregation,
while not total, is central to the daily
life and organization of an elemen
tary school. This segregation exists in
the forms of gendered spaces, friend
ships, and spatial separation between
boys and girls — with boys typically
controlling areas such as large playing
fields, and girls controlling smaller
enclaves like hopscotch. Examples
like these solidify the gendered orien
tation for each group.
Of course, there are exceptions to
all of the aforementioned. But the
point is, our sexual identities are
formed through our gendered activi
ties, and gender segregation between
Turn to SHAKRA, page 11
Free format brews variation
If for some accursed reason you
happen to wake up at 4 a.m. on a Fri
day, you might be interested in turn
ing the dial on your radio to our es
teemed campus broadcasting station,
KWVA 88.1 FM. If you do, you might
hear a voice that is tired yet fast
paced, like a speed freak about to
crash after a 48-hour Benzedrine trip.
Fligh on punk, free jazz and a self-de
luded perception of his own clever
ness, this DJ has been dutifully play
ing one of the most awful shifts on
the station's schedule, without pay,
for more than two years.
This DJ is, of course, myself. I can't
really explain why, in terms that make
sense to anyone, I do the show at the
time I do. I took it at first because it
was the only slot available, but I've
never taken any opportunity to
switch. At this point, it has been sim
ply compulsory.
The time slot does have its
I'JliiviHflii
Community
Center for tho
Performing Arts
8th &
Uncoin
«Friday .
Chirjilchm, Stephen Kent,
Satymai Urchmayeu
Tuvan Throat Singers/Didjeridu
8:oo pis, $13 advance, $15 door
. Saturday •
Floater with Softcore
Heavy Rock
8:30 pm, tio advance, $12 door
• Wednesday •
Southern Culture on the Skids
with The Paybacks
Rockabilly
8:00 pm, $10 advance, $12 door
All Ages Welcome
6S7-2746
Ryan Nyburg
Budget rack
advantages though, such as the un
mitigated freedom to play whatever
I feel like. I could spend two hours
vomiting onto the microphone and
it wouldn't change the show's listen
ership by any significant amount. As
it is, I play mostly rock.
Working at a free format radio sta
tion is an eye-opening experience. It
really brings to light the stifling con
trol of normal, everyday corporate ra
dio. Sticking to a well-regulated
playlist, the larger stations cater
I (ana waxing by)
exclusively to popular tastes. Which is
fine, of course — good luck to them
and all. The problem is that not every
one prescribes to the popular tastes of
the time, meaning a lot of people are
left out in the dark. And trying to get
a large station to play what you like by
making requests is about as effective
as attacking a Sherman tank with a
spork.
Requests don't make much differ
ence anyway, since DJs at larger sta
tions have little, if any, say about what
gets played. While even the largest
corporate broadcast companies create
playlists at a semi-local level, these
lists reflect more of what is popular
nationally than locally. Requesting a
song that isn't on the list will yield lit
tle success.
All formats of corporate radio sta
tions work the same way, with heavy
emphasis on popularity but little at
tention paid to quality. Of course this
makes sense from a business perspec
tive, playing it safe and all, but it
makes for pretty bland entertainment.
This is the real issue at hand for all the
anti-corporate rhetoric out there,
which is why smaller stations exist. As
long as there are people out there
Turn to NYBURG, page 11
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