Care Not Control: The Problem is Patriarchy, Part One

Power & Patriarchy

Let’s untangle the roots of white supremacist culture and power. How do these systems deny young people autonomy over their bodies? What’s possible when we remove their hierarchy and oppression from our communities?

The surveillance and criminalization we face today over access to sexual and reproductive health have always been about power over us, not power with us. To create a society that centers the safety and value of youth, we must deconstruct what patriarchal systems and institutions have taught us

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Collective care networks—like those abortion funds provide—are needed to ensure young people have resources, support, and agency in their lives. We imagine a world where programs like Empowering Young Parents from Jane’s Due Process are available in all communities. Support their work today!

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Study Patriarchy’s Patterns

Imagine you are a reporter. Your task is to observe and write about how gender, sexuality, and family look in American society in 2026. Visit a shopping center or two. Watch a half-hour show with commercials. Write down what you notice about people with masculine and feminine gender expressions. Next, reflect on your own family. What gender roles do people participate in? Who freely shows affection? How do those folks identify? Are some types of people more subdued than others? What do family structures look like? Are there any clear familial hierarchies?

Although most of our families don’t match this picture, we’re still expected to work toward it. In our communities, “nontraditional” families, queer families, trans families, and other chosen family structures are stigmatized. Policies and laws marginalize alternative family structures and punish folks who don’t fit into expectations.

Young people bear the brunt of this outdated and toxic cultural weight. In patriarchal systems, youth are seen as threats when they try to plan their lives and healthcare decisions. To achieve Reproductive Justice, we must decenter white supremacist culture and embrace collectivist models that honor the bodily autonomy of all.

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Patriarchy Suppresses Youth

Communities thrive when all people, regardless of age, have access to resources and agency in healthcare decisions. Patriarchy survives by oppressing young people, women, queer, trans people, and elders in our communities. It relies on hierarchy and ownership to control these groups and keep them vulnerable.

Check out these examples of patriarchal control:

• Under old English law, women were considered their husbands’ property until the 19th century.
• In the U.S., women couldn’t serve on juries until the 1960s, restricting their influence in society.
• Unwed women were denied access to birth control until the 1970s. To this day, they still face stigma when seeking pregnancy care.
• Parents are legally allowed to force queer youth into cruel, “conversion therapy” practices that are deemed harmful by professionals.
• Public schools must remove student pride clubs and Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA), denying youth of affirming, inclusive spaces.
• Dismantling the Department of Education has worsened the quality of education, and there are fewer resources available to young people.

In this patriarchal system, youth are still seen as “belonging” to their parents and other adults in their lives. Autonomy is withheld until adulthood. And even then, it’s partial and conditional, shaped by gender and sexual identity, zip code, race, able-bodiedness, and access to income and education.

For decades, power-holders have controlled reproduction. They’ve decided who gets to make healthcare decisions and who does not. We discussed historical reproductive coercion in our learning series, Power in Our Hands. Check it out to learn more!