F*ck the Patriarchy as Democratic Action: Choosing Resistance

• In Event: Teaching Democracy Now

Abstract

In an increasingly autocratic world (Levitsky & Ziblatt, 2019), resisting patriarchy in the classroom is a powerfully agentic and democratic reclamation of education. In this presentation, we contend that authoritarianism and patriarchy work together to suppress agency and limit democratic participation. Challenging patriarchal structures in education is both necessary and possible, even within constraints.
Drawing on hooks (2004) and Manne (2017), we define patriarchy, sexism, and misogyny and situate each in education (Sadker & Sadker, 2010). We draw on feminist pedagogies, rooted in notions of collective liberation and critiques of injustice (hooks, 1994; hooks, 2003; Ellsworth, 1997), as counter to patriarchy and complement to democratic education through small, meaningful shifts in practice, such as centering student voices and equitably facilitating discussions. We examine overt forms of resistance, like advocating for inclusive curriculum changes and engaging in policy advocacy. We also recommend teachers build support networks that can strengthen their efforts to create democratic education spaces. Even when autocracy presents compliance as the only choice, there are always big and small ways to disobey. There is a long history of resistance and defiance among teachers—mostly women, mainly teachers of color—in the face of racist, patriarchal, autocratic mandates for education as they defend the ideals of democratic education. We join them, and invite others to join too.

Authors

• Rebecca Cooper Geller, University of Georgia

• Amelia Wheeler, Western Carolina University