Stuart, it sure is a weird witch's brew of theory out there at present - I can't get a grip on it either.
It seems as if contemporary "social theorists" in the literature departments, are able to pick and choose from the range of ideological weaponry they have in their arsenal. I don't think many have actually thought their positions through - but it doesn't matter, so long as you are trashing the "patriarchy" and all its works.
As I quoted above, Pomo is "often regarded, with some justification, as a philosophical delivery system for a left-wing agenda." So there is a coalition of anti-Patriarchal forces.
Some people believe all this nonsense came and went in 70s and 80s - I wish!
It has become entrenched now as a self-perpetuating culture - a de facto religious movement with its devout leaders, rigid dogmas and heretics, and its sometimes puzzled but lock-step followers, mechanically chanting the mantras but frightened of speaking up for fear of losing their jobs.
But take the term "patriarchy" alone - what possible sense does this word have in a world where matriarchy has NEVER been seen in any culture in the history of the planet. It is a meaningless term, invented by abstract, disembodied idealists who simply hate human reality.
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