Patriarchy without Patriarchs

Patriarchy is a system of a bygone era is what books preach to you, yet, in subtler ways it exists. Thrives. Women have survived battles, throttled by oppression and vengeance, to finally reach a state of physical, mental, financial and emotional liberation that seeks neither validation nor justification. Yet, the quality of what we receive is still subpar, to say the least. 

It is but a perpetual cycle that is carefully veiled beneath the multiple folds of society. We grow up and look at the world through the lens of patriarchy, the effects of it are latent and are oftentimes dismissed as jokes or of cultural sustenance, yet, it finds ways to lean on and survive. It took me years to hint at the patterns and years on the go, to decipher some of it. 

The journey is alienating, looking at patterns that others dismiss. Somehow most of everyday interactions, explicitly or unconsciously, is shaped by the male perspective. Everyday conversations involve some element or the other that is subtly added to disregard and discredit the female population and it is not subjected to vexation, but is rather reverted back by vehemently emphasizing that " it's just a joke. Chill", or, " you're reading too much into it", "this is how things should be done", "it is inappropriate the other way" and suddenly the burden of observing becomes yours.

Female consciousness in this regard, feels more like a battle between certainty and doubt. You notice something, then doubt yourself. You notice it again, and the doubt persists gnawing something deep within. The pattern persists and yet any explanation that you provide is merely a deafening scream into the void. 

- R.Mahathi

(15/6/2026)

Image Source: Mobile Gallery
Place: Greenways Road Railway Station, Chennai