Elle Beau ❇︎
2 min readJul 26, 2024

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Absolutely everybody is oppressed under patriarchy - even the people who seem to be "winning" at it - because a dominance based hierarchy demands emotional isolation and brutality that is antithetical to human happiness. It's why even the richest people are always trying to acquire more, more, more and are never satisfied or contented.

The dominance hierarchy teaches us to look at everything as a zero-sum dynamic. You either win or you lose, so in order for you to win, somebody else must lose. There can be no win/win scenarios. You are either oppressor or the oppressed - meanwhile, it's completely possible to have privilege in some areas and be oppressed in others. As a social scientist, I learned a long time ago that there is no such thing as black and white scenarios. Culture is complex and interwoven with all sorts of nuance.

Edit: Rich women, even the ones in “important” jobs still deal with misogyny, the “credibility gap” and being judged on their appearance and whether or not they are good mothers — or mothers at all. Rich Black people still face stereotypes about their abilities, about their demeanor, about their intelligence, etc. Wealth/class are not a slam dunk, just like being male is not a slam dunk. But, because it’s a male led dominance based hierarchy, being male does confer some structural advantages, even if you are poor (just like being white does, even if you are poor). Privilege is less about what you have than it is what you never have to face or have to think about that is a pervasive part of other people’s experiences.

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Elle Beau ❇︎
Elle Beau ❇︎

Written by Elle Beau ❇︎

I'm a bitch, I'm a lover, I'm a child, I'm a mother, I'm a sinner, I'm a saint. I do not feel ashamed. I'm your hell, I'm your dream, I'm nothing in between.

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