The patriarchy hurts everybody. The wildly disproportionate distribution of global money and power hurts women, but not only women. Men are harmed, too.(1) When you have all the power and all the control, your every minor mistake can ruin someone’s life. That’s a lot of responsibility. Too much responsibility.
When women screw up, they ruin their own lives. When men screw up, they ruin other people’s lives. And it’s not because women are gentler or kinder or smarter or whatever. It’s because women don’t have enough influence to make big messes.
A better balance of power would also mean a better balance of impact. Men and boys could screw up without taking everyone down with them. Women and girls would gain strength – and shoulder a bigger share of responsibility.
1 – Yes, women are harmed more, I’m not an idiot.