Women are entitled, spoiled princesses (and mothers are even worse): Patriarchal myth of the month
Male entitlement is the foundation of patriarchy. No wonder men want women to think we're the entitled ones.
“Women get married, don’t like the bargain they agreed to, and then try to take everything from their husbands because they’re fundamentally entitled.”
“Mothers taking their kid out in public think they should get everything their way. If you can’t pay a baby-sitter, stay home.”
“Mothers are so entitled. You wanted this and now you’re angry about it.”
“Mothers want birth plans and the royal treatment postpartum because they’re entitled. They should be grateful to have a healthy baby.
“Why are you focusing on this petty household labor shit when women are dying across the globe?”
“You should be writing about Project 2025. The rest of this doesn’t matter when women are soon going to be property. Step out of your privileged bubble”
“It’s hard being a doctor. Stop being a Karen and criticizing everything they do. Sexism and racism in medicine are rare.”
If you’ve ever engaged in any feminist activism, you’ve probably heard similar. I’ve been repeatedly admonished by men—men doing little to nothing other than treating politics like a football game, it’s worth noting—that I am focusing on the wrong things, that I need to talk abut “real” issues.
The framing of women as entitled, spoiled, and selfish is integral to patriarchy. There is a reason men want to convince us feminism is petty and silly and disconnected from the real needs of real people. And we’re going to see more of it in the wake of the 2024 election, so it’s time to prepare to cede not a single inch of ground.
Patriarchy thrives on mythology. That’s why beliefs about the innate and extreme biological differences between the sexes are so integral to patriarchy. It’s why misogynists tend to aggressively enforce gender roles. And it’s why we believe objectively false things, like that men—the gender doing the majority of emotionally influenced violence—are more rational and less emotional than women.
These myths are the water we swim in and the air we breathe, and may remain invisible to us for our entire lives. But once you see them, you can’t unsee them. This is the second installment of a new series about the patriarchal myths we believe, how they influence our behavior, and how to avoid falling victim to the noise and the nonsense. Read the first installment here.