Some people are so defensive, they won't listen no matter what. There's nothing I can do about that. If I use correct terminology, and explain what I mean by it, it is because I think it's imporant for people to understand all the aspects of this social system and how they fit together. That's my whole raisons d'être with these sorts of stories. If some people refuse to listen to that, it's the price I'm willing to pay for many others finally truly understanding the elements of the social system and how it functions -something I am often thanked for.

As I said before, gender is a not the only aspect of this but it is a very, very important one. Pretending that isn't the case because it feels uncomfortable to you or anyone else isn't really my concern. And although this social system is upheld by the society as a whole, and it wouldn't be fair to say it is a "conspiracy" there nonetheless have been hundreds if not thousands of years of laws that were made by men (women weren't allowed to make laws) which codified and perpetuated this marginalization and fought tooth and nail against its ouster. It took nearly 100 years of constant agitation, protest, and advocacy for women to get the vote. Although there were women who opposed it, it is historically correct to say that the bulk of the the conscious, vehement, and intentional opposition to that came from men. So, let's not try to rewrite history here. Patriarchy has dominance hierarchy aspects, which include the intentional and willful maintenance of traditional power through intimidation, coercion, and violence. What this looks like in American history is the purposeful keeping of women (and others) in second class status -something that still continues to this day even though the laws have changed. Pretending that isn't the main aspect of what a dominance hierarchy is is willfully turning a blind eye to what is actually going on, and I'm not going to do that.