In Gyn/Ecology, Mary Daly aims to take the reader on a journey to a new unconventional reality. Throughout the book, Daly invents words and coherently rambles about the origin of the patriarchal society we live in. She speaks to all kinds of people - battered, strong, independent- and continues pressing until the reader inevitably breaks. Daly aims to distort our perception of the world, which makes her writing so brilliant. She sets a chaotic, uncomfortable mood that urges the reader to move away from a state stagnancy and uncertainty. She urges the reader to examine their unexamined lives. Her creation of this new language and dialogue takes the reader out of their impure mindset and grants passage to an anti-patriarchal reality that is easily
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In fact, I continue to question my parents and the culture forced on me until this day. At age 8 I’d ask why my mom always had to cook and clean for my dad. At age 12 I’d ask why my brothers- who are older than me- didn’t have to do chores while I did. At age 18 I’d ask why my brother can date and why I cannot. And for all of these questions, my mom’s response is always that “it’s just the way things are”. And the saddest part is that I came to terms with the patriarchal world I live in- I accepted it and began to welcome it. I accepted male privilege and allowed for inequality to exist in my own home- which turned into the place I hated the most. After reading Daly, I’m ashamed that I even began to let the patriarchy consume me and that I was willing to let myself conform. I’m angry that I was so willing to just exist in order to be liked, to be accepted. Reading Daly, and particularly Mann’s appendix, gives me the courage to continue questioning and to be comfortable in my own skin. No woman should have to worry that she will be perceived as bitchy if she challenges a man. No woman should have to fear assault for expressing herself. Mary Daly’s writing gives me the motivation to continue breaking the norms of my culture. She inspires me to spin; to take back my power and change my reality. When I read this introduction alone, I read excerpts to my mother and stood up to my father, arguing that I shouldn’t have to conform to standards that our patriarchal society and culture imposes. My mom was proud of me for my confidence and ironically my dad was angry. My father’s reaction expresses why most men hate feminists; they fear losing power and rank in society and use anger to express this fear. They label and control, and in my dad’s case they impose harsher restrictions on the women they control. I wonder why men rely so strongly on this power: why they fear
In fact, I continue to question my parents and the culture forced on me until this day. At age 8 I’d ask why my mom always had to cook and clean for my dad. At age 12 I’d ask why my brothers- who are older than me- didn’t have to do chores while I did. At age 18 I’d ask why my brother can date and why I cannot. And for all of these questions, my mom’s response is always that “it’s just the way things are”. And the saddest part is that I came to terms with the patriarchal world I live in- I accepted it and began to welcome it. I accepted male privilege and allowed for inequality to exist in my own home- which turned into the place I hated the most. After reading Daly, I’m ashamed that I even began to let the patriarchy consume me and that I was willing to let myself conform. I’m angry that I was so willing to just exist in order to be liked, to be accepted. Reading Daly, and particularly Mann’s appendix, gives me the courage to continue questioning and to be comfortable in my own skin. No woman should have to worry that she will be perceived as bitchy if she challenges a man. No woman should have to fear assault for expressing herself. Mary Daly’s writing gives me the motivation to continue breaking the norms of my culture. She inspires me to spin; to take back my power and change my reality. When I read this introduction alone, I read excerpts to my mother and stood up to my father, arguing that I shouldn’t have to conform to standards that our patriarchal society and culture imposes. My mom was proud of me for my confidence and ironically my dad was angry. My father’s reaction expresses why most men hate feminists; they fear losing power and rank in society and use anger to express this fear. They label and control, and in my dad’s case they impose harsher restrictions on the women they control. I wonder why men rely so strongly on this power: why they fear