Patriarchy at the root of environmental destruction 22 April 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Patriarchy , No Comments I recently attended a grass roots environmental meeting at which an older lady, a staunch activist, spelled out various things we should be doing to protect the environment. A young man, owner of an eco-something […]
Shame is the lock that keeps patriarchy in place 22 February 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Patriarchy , Shame , 1 Comment I have written a lot about shame, and I have written a lot about patriarchy. But never before have I articulated the connection between them so clearly. Shame is the lock […]
Naughty or nice? The patriarchal programming behind Santa’s question 26 January 2019 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Patriarchy , No Comments Over the Christmas period I was offered a chocolate with the rider that “you can only have one if you’ve been good.” The admonition was no doubt intended as a joke, but it […]
Why do we always eat too much at Christmas? 21 December 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Patriarchy , No Comments Amid all the jollity of Christmas—much of it genuine, some of it forced—it’s an awkward question to ask. It disturbs the glossy patina of pre-Christmas rituals. Putting up the tree and decorating it, […]
Sex in patriarchy – how the past shapes sex today 15 December 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Cornerstones , Patriarchy , Sexuality , 2 Comments In A brief history of shame, I wrote how patriarchy arose some 6,000 years ago, giving rise to male dominant, anti-female, anti-sexual societies. Here I’m going to examine […]
Pointing the finger at God – why are Michelangelo’s willies so small? 30 November 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , History , Patriarchy , 7 Comments I’ve been a little obsessed by penis size lately. I think it’s something to do with having recently begun life modelling with the good folks at […]
Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell – a rock opera on patriarchy 29 September 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , Patriarchy , 4 Comments Some years ago I wrote how Pink Floyd’s 1979 epic double album The Wall was a complex 26-song cycle about patriarchy and its institutionalised sexual shame. I don’t know […]
Excess, patriarchy and the murder of Stanford White 22 April 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: History , Patriarchy , No Comments The media dubbed it—perhaps for the first time—the ‘crime of the century’. On the night of 25 June 1906, Harry K. Thaw shot architect Stanford White at point-blank range in the rooftop […]
Hostiles – no peace with patriarchy 29 December 2017 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , Patriarchy , No Comments The advertising hoardings of the London Underground are currently filled with posters for a new film, Hostiles. Scheduled for release in January 2018, Hostiles is described as “a landmark cinematic experience” that “might well […]
The opposite of a patriarchy is not a matriarchy 7 November 2017 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: News , Patriarchy , No Comments Recent revelations of sexual abuse in the highest corridors of Hollywood have caused a fundamental shift in gender relations. Suddenly, abuse claims are gaining traction. Hard on the heels of the […]