Patriarchy as a form of hierarchy (gender based) is alive and well, but perhaps faltering: From James Hamlin, M.D., in The Atlantic:
"Still the foundation of Trump’s base is white men without a degree. The dominance of white men is being challenged on many fronts,
including the code by which they fraternized with and identified one
another. If their dominance is shrinking, it is a regression toward
parity, an undoing of entrenched inequality, but not an outright attack.
Not oppression.
"The fact that Trump’s impetuousness and
thoughtlessness are rewarded rather than punished only further evidence
the boys-will-be-boys system. His weakness is not in “speaking without
thinking,” as apologists have offered, but in being unable not to speak
when challenged. Trump is both a product of a masculine culture and a
beneficiary of its musky tenets. Rather than criticize him or lose
faith, his fans forgive and apologize for his words.
"Masculine
culture is both a reason that Trump does what he does and a reason that
people accept and trust it. To watch Trump is to appreciate that “fuck
the patriarchy” may belong in everyday use, possibly in place of “what’s
up?” His classical brand of masculinity becomes toxic and feeds tribalism and violence and entitlement among his followers—those who prefer fighting to
talking, walls to bridges, grimaces to smiles. But it can stop holding
sway whenever we stop valuing it, stop accepting it at all."
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/08/trump-masculinity-problem/494582/
