ABSTRACT
In the preceding chapter, we explored the nature and dynamics of patriarchy. However, questions that necessarily arise in relation to such a topic might include the following: can one escape the gravitational pull, as it were, of the patriarchal order and economy? Can patriarchy be dismantled? To answer the last question first, we might reflect that the patriarchal order and economy suffuse and shape the culture we inhabit, together with its definition of the relationships among sex, gender, and sexuality. Thus, patriarchy directs not only what we see but also how we see it. Accordingly, it would be irrational to expect an overnight revolution that did away with both the patriarchal order and the patriarchal economy, and put something in their place that functioned properly from the very start. So it would seem that we may be stuck with patriarchy for some time to come.
