Mom

As if I needed further proof that my mother does not understand me, the Universe was kind enough to provide another interaction. I was chatting with my mom about nothing while we were watching TV and a commercial was on.

We were both on our phones and I came across a writing prompt. “If you could uninvent anything, what would it be?” I read this to mom and said, “the Patriarchy”. I was only half joking.

Imagine my surprise when she asked, “What is that?”  

Um, how does one explain to a 76-year-old woman what the Patriarchy is in the 20 seconds left of the commercial break? I said something like, “It’s our whole system-you know men who run the world?”

She says, “You are so weird.” Then the show was back on.

WTF! OMG! This explains so much and makes me a bit mad at my dad and myself. Him for perpetuating; me for not realizing.

What do I do now? She has way more important things on her mind right now. A lecture from me on the ravages of the Patriarchy will not add value to her life.

It’s not as if she is unaware of the fact that men run the world, I don’t think. It’s more a matter of most women of her generation just accepted it as fact. That coupled with her growing up in Chile, where the Patriarchy is even worse than here, even now, and it’s not really all that shocking. Or at least it shouldn’t be.

So why am I still so baffled?

I guess it’s because despite having known her for more than 50 years I realize there’s still so much about her I don’t know. Perhaps it’s time to remedy that.

Be well my friends.