Consumerism Isn't Due To Patriarchy
Why Is Patriarchy Made A Scapegoat?
Introduction
By consumerism, I don’t mean protection of consumer rights. I use the word in the other, negative sense, where people buy unnecessary stuff under the spell of capitalism.
No, I am not yet a communist. I did start reading Karl Marx’s Capital a few days back. A lot of what he said made sense but it was too dry and filled with jargon for me to continue reading it.
But still, buying stuff we don’t need does contribute to the economic problems a lot of people are facing. They would have been better off if they had saved the money they spent unnecessarily.
So, consumerism is bad and so is patriarchy, but let’s not conflate the too as it will only strengthen both evils.
I am writing this because a woman on Instagram blamed what she called ‘buy-throw’ culture (consumerism) on patriarchy.
Is Consumerism Caused By Patriarchy?
So, is consumerism the result of patriarchy? Let’s see how consumerism starts. We buy stuff we don’t need. Why? Because we see messages asking us to.
Who causes these messages to be shown? Capitalists create these messages to make more money.
Are all capitalists patriarchs? Aren’t there females heads of business? Do they run their business along communist lines?
No. That means consumerism can be driven by both patriarchy and matriarchy. So, consumerism and patriarchy are not related.
Why The Scapegoating Of Patriarchy?
The woman’s occupation seems to be consuming stuff like clothes and flaunting them on her Instagram profile and she does a good job of it.
But she seems to want to preempt the criticism of indulging in consumerism when a lot of people are going through a 'cost of living’ crisis and the environment is suffering.
So, she seems to have hit upon the idea of scapegoating patriarchy. Why?
Because she knows the two aren’t related. So, by distracting with an issue that probably can’t be solved any time soon, and blaming it for her consumerism, she can continue what she’s doing without taking responsibility.
What’s The Problem With What She’s Doing?
By pretending to fight patriarchy and not really doing anything in that direction and creating tenuous links between patriarchy and other issues, she’s watering down the issue of patriarchy and impacting the credibility of the fight against it.
So, she’s selling other women down the drain by weakening the fight against patriarchy just so she can escape criticism.
This, in a way, makes the saying ‘women are women’s worst enemies’ true.
Conclusion
Let’s cancel such pseudo-feminists who get in the way of the fight for women’s rights.
If you liked this, you might like my books.