The patriarchy
Excerpts from the book I’ve been writing since 2017, getting there…
“ There is no doubt the arrival of Christianity changed the way in which Pacific Island women were perceived and treated. With the arrival of a new God, there came patriarchal notions of how a woman was required to behave and what her exact role would be. Her dress code changed and so too her assumed value as a woman. This can be attributed to translations of the bible by the London Missionary Society to be aligned with the patriarchal agenda of domination, power and control over the female body, mind and soul.
Mary the mother of Jesus has been viewed as meek and obedient and this image of her has been reproduced for centuries. After years of propagating a well behaved mother of Jesus, the church was able to infiltrate Pacific Island communities with new notions of what constitutes being a woman and what her role was in the household. This is not to denigrate the duties many women spend years in service to their families and husbands. It is the understanding of the power dynamics that shifted from one of reciprocity and balance pre-colonial days, to one of imbalance with males seen as the head of the household and women subservient to this role. From here an exertion of power would manifest in many different ways, using literal and misinterpreted scripture for justification. Once men had been given the Divine sanction of being the head of the household, maleness began to exert its dominance and power over all those within the family dynamic. This has continued to be passed through generations, with each male figurehead taking on board an egocentric role, one of domination and power. Patriarchal approval became an important feature of the family dynamic.
This idea of a docile Mary, has been challenged by theologians such as Tissa Balasuriya and Teresa Forcardes. Balasuriya postulated in his book, “ Mary and Human Liberation,” Mary challenged authority and oppression. He believed Mary supported Jesus in his discipleship to challenge power. This led to Tissa Balasuriya being ex-communicated from the Catholic Church and only reinstated prior to his passing. The Catholic church does not allow women priests because of the belief Christ did not allow women into his circle of disciples, only twelve men.
There is ongoing discussion about the place of women disciples, including that of Mary Magdalene, in Jesus’s life. Whilst this may be controversial to orthodox religions, it is a debate that is much needed, considering the role christianity has played in the perpetuation of patriarchy in indigenous communities, which experienced genocides throughout history and the prevalence of patriarchy influencing society today. If the London Missionary society sought to minimise Mangaian women ariki, on the arrival of missionaries to our shores, in an effort to sustain patriarchal domination, why would the subordination of Mary Magdalene or Jesus’s mother Mary be any different? "
2. " Patriarchy first and foremost harms the mind, heart and soul of men, by rendering them motionless beings and encouraging acts of self mutilation, thus denying the emotional parts of themselves, bell hooks describes this well in her book, “The Will to Change.” Patriarchal violence on men precedes violence on women, because only one who is violent towards oneself, whether it be in an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual way, can be violent towards another.
This leads to traumatised women, traumatising other women. Safety whether it be physical,emotional or spiritual is compromised. The end result, whether patriarchy has infected the minds of men or women, is to desecrate the sacredness of a woman, in an effort to make her feel powerless, unloved, isolated and unsafe.
In December 2024, a reopened 2014 Cook Island Survey of 458 women in Rarotonga, on domestic violence done by the Cook Islands National Council of Women (CiNCW) reported 59% of women in the CI have experienced physical violence, 11% faced sexual violence and 30% had experienced both.
Alarm bells ring, with these figures, further asserting the need for an understanding of what patriarchy is within the context of Cook Island Society today, how it happened and the need for it to be dismantled in society at large. We cannot say patriarchy does not exist, with these figures and experiences of our vaine."
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For the record some of our tupuna were non Catholic and some were also Catholic, with some Fortes buried at the Panama cemetery and Serafin (Grandpa's great grandfather) buried at Nukutere (yes this name was taken too ) College. Not sure why or how he was buried there if he was around the late 1800s - early 1900s and the school didn't open till the 1970s. When you cross the road from the Panama gas station you will see Manuel Fortes, Grandpa's grandfather, facing the road.
