Fiona wrote:
Well, there are a fair few female persons in positions of power in UK society, too, and that doesn't make it any less patriarchal-- just as
having
some African-Americans in positions of power does not make the US any
less
racially stratified. IMO, anyway...
Re: the second half of that, yes. Particularly considering that the African American currently in the position of greatest power got there by (a) orchestrating the killing of thousands of Asians a few decades back, and (b) condoning the systematic disenfranchisement of thousands of his own people by the party that put him in power.
I would also like to point out in our defense that there has been vast improvement in this regard over the past eight years, under the Clinton administration, which IMO is precisely why the Republicans hate Clinton with such a crazed passion that they have to make up wild lies about him, such as we've recently heard from Ellynne (more about that, with suitable B7 references, later). Compare Bush Jr.'s cabinet to Bush Sr.'s and you see the difference that Clinton made-- today the Republicans have to put in far more token blacks and token women to try to give the impression that they're not biased . Of course, as we all learned from Margaret Thatcher, an individual from one of the traditional out groups can be as nasty as any white male once in power.
Re: the first half, Tavia added:
That's entirely different. There's good evidence that UK society was overtly patriarchal less than 100 years ago, and so one needs a reasonable mass of evidence to counter the idea of it being so today. (Leaving open the question of whether it is or not.)
Yes, clearly things have improved a lot in this respect, in the UK and elsewhere, so the question is more a matter of where you draw the line and say "OK, it's not a patriarchy any more." Does that mean no gender-based discrimination at all? Or only a little, perhaps?
Another thought about Deliverance: do we know for sure that Meegat even wanted to be a priestess and Messiah-greeter? Maybe she didn't, but was chosen by lot and agreed to do her duty. Maybe the reason she looks so happy to see Avon is that now that the Messiah has arrived, she will soon be off the hook of obligation and can go and do whatever else she may have had in mind-- marrying her true love, perhaps, and/or pursuing some exciting activity that she had had to set aside to be a priestess.
Re: the idea that technology, as personified by Avon in Deliverance, is a masculine quality: but what about the scenes with Vila and the huntresses in "Powerplay," and of course the infamous "Power"? In both of those episodes we see a male/female social split, but with the women associated with the technological side.
Sarah T.