[Author’s note: Since free time is short for me as a full time history teacher these days, with a stack of papers to grade and endless lessons to plan, this is a piece I wrote very quickly with minimal corrections, so there may be spelling errors etc.. But I nonetheless wanted to get my thoughts out, candidly, so here they are.] 

With people’s fears about the potential for another war on the horizon due to American actions in Iran recently, I have been thinking again of the importance of elevating the matriarchy. What do I mean by this? 

As a history teacher, it becomes very clear to me just how much of a pattern there has been about the type of person who has been in power and who has been making the decisions that lead to war and devastation. Over centuries, there has been one common thread throughout our connected, global human history. The people in power starting wars has been the same. It has been men in power. Although there is nothing wrong with men in power, men do tend to air on the side of violent action at times. By mere observation (and countless data) the people that commit violence, mass shootings, domestic violence and start wars have been men. I want you to know right off that bat, this is not a “venting session” against the male persuasion, this is just fact about the demographic of people who have been in power over the majority of our written history, and who statistically speaking, commit certain crimes and warfare. So what if we changed it? What if we changed the demographic of people in power? What if we avoided the pattern that Einstein so famously pointed out: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” What if, instead of repeating the trend of only men being in power making the global decisions over and over, what if we elevated the matriarchy? What if we balanced the scales more? We need more women in power. 

Research has shown that women tend to vote more on the side of social well being and gear their lives towards taking care of one another. We have also seen that women are more likely to believe the climate crisis is an important focus and to actually make steps towards alleviating the climate crisis. We need more women in power and steering us clear away from devastation and war. Have you heard the radical phrase “Smash the Patriarchy?” Well that is all fine except I don’t think that would necessarily solve things either: Because then the pendulum would just swing back and forth. I think the real change will happen when we truly elevate the matriarchy: Put women in their rightful place which is right alongside men making history and men being in power. With that type of balance, women alongside men in power, I would be surprised if we didn’t get closer towards creating a better world. 

I went on a date with a guy who I was very attracted to because of how feminist he was. Without knowing my background at all, as we were talking about world events he said candidly “I’m all about the matriarchy. And I’m not saying that to be popular or something, I’m saying that because I really am. I mean, I’m in a profession that is dominated by women (the teaching profession) and I see amazing women leaders everyday.” He then mentioned he believes women will have more power and sway in the world very soon and then he added something I’ve been talking about for years which is this: He stated, “and then once women become in power, that is when the climate crisis will truly hit and you all will get blamed for it, even though it wasn’t your fault!” And we laughed about how messed up that is but very likely could become the case. It’s like a previous president puts a nation into debt or into a recession, and the residual effects carry onto the next president who gets blamed for it. Regardless, having more women in power could be just the thing we need to change this world. It would be a long overdue switcheroo. And it might just be the recipe we need for change.