kyriarchy

Kyriarchy is

a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and derived from the Greek words for ‘lord’ or ‘master’ (kyrios) and ‘to rule or dominate’ (archein)

(from Feminist Philosophers, quoting from Glossary, Wisdom Ways, Orbis Books New York 2001)

While “patriarchy” places man (literally “father”) as the ruler/dominator, “kyriarchy” emphasizes that it is the very concept of “master” that rules us; it is the act of creating hierarchies on which we are all placed “higher” or “lower” that oppresses and damages us.

The schema of “kyriarchy” succeeds where the schema of “patriarchy” fails by acknowledging the wide variety of dominations/oppressions that humans suffer under: not just women-under-men, but queer-under-straight, trans-under-cis, PWD-under-TAB, POC-under-white, poor-under-rich, fat-under-thin, and so on. The masculinity-femininity axis is but one among many ways that humans exist with either privilege or oppression, and most of us exist with a complex array of privilege in some areas and oppression in others.

In the schema of “kyriarchy”, we are able to understand that it is not enough for (straight, thin, rich, white, cis) women to achieve equality with (straight, thin, rich, white, cis) men; we must dismantle every aspect of the system which privileges any state of being over any other, in order for all humans to achieve full personhood.

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For further discussion of the concept of kyriarchy, I highly recommend reading Accepting Kyriarchy, Not Apologies by Sady at My Ecdysis, to whom I offer my sincere thanks for introducing me to the word, if not the concept. My thinking and writing are far clearer due to that post.