To my mind, there is a problem with a revolution that seeks the power of the people it aims to overthrow. If a group of people are exploited or oppressed, then naturally they desire freedom from that system of oppression. This sounds simple, but in fact it demands many complex questions are answered. What sort of equality do they seek? What would a more equal world look like? Once they have won the power hitherto denied them, what will they do with it? Is there not a danger that they will become the new tyrants? This happens throughout history. There is a revolution, but before long totalitarian Tsarist Russia, for example, becomes totalitarian communist Russia. Revolutions can easily go very wrong. This is not to suggest that if women gained power over men they’d be raping and abusing them as in that recent rather silly but very enjoyable novel (‘The Power’ isn’t it?); but there is absolutely no reason to assume women in power will be any more noble that men in power – that they will have less of a tendency to abuse their power. Women are not inherently better people. After all, is not the idea of woman as the more caring, gentle sex a patriarchal construct designed to keep her in the home? So, one of the things gender revolutionaries could think about is what kind of new social system would be most conducive to their aims. But it seems that rather than propose such a new world, many feminists want the same system but with the power turned over to women. In the past the values of capitalism – aggressive self-interest, ambition, competition – were identified by many feminists as patriarchal; and those of socialistic co-operation were proposed in their place. But now you see more feminists aligning themselves with the individualist-capitalist values they were formerly concerned with critiquing.
What would in a sense be a more gender equal world is possible within the current system – a world in which women too can be ruthless CEO’s, exploitative businesswomen, pornographers, brutal generals, tyrannical leaders – but is the kind of equality you really want?
This is a legitimate question is it not?
As well as being capable of all sorts of wonderful things, human beings can be not very nice. And when they have power they are at risk of abusing it. They’ve evolved from primates and their spinal cords are still encrypted with some very base evolutionary impulses – fear, anger, selfishness. They like to dominate. They have a tendency to be clannish - to form groups and victimise others outside of the group, whether that be in an office or a war zone. Many of them are capable of enjoying violence, whether it be physical, sexual or more subtle forms of psychological cruelty. I don’t believe women are inherently any different, they have just lacked the opportunity to do many of the wonderful but also terrible things they, as human beings, are capable of as equals to men.