Lily – pat-ri-arc-hy
Preferred Name
Lily
Legal Name
Lillian Healy
Contact Email
lhealy@bostonk12.org
Age
18
Gender Expression
Which student are you?
High School Student (US Only)
Name of School
Boston Latin School
Grade / Year in School
12
Location (City, State/Province, Country)
Boston
If you identify with an ethnicity or culture(s), which one or ones do you identify with?
Irish
What is the name of your legal guardian/parent (if under 18)?
Please provide contact information for your legal guardian/parent (if under 18)
What are your social media accounts (TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook)?
Please select type of project you are entering
Literature/Poetry
What is the title of your project?
pat-ri-arc-hy
Please tell us about your submission (maximum 600 words)
To dismantle the patriarchy seems like an impossible task, as there are so many things which perpetuate it's power. I split up the word itself and started each stanza with that fragment of the word, creating words that are seemingly random but that can be used to support the patriarchy. Each stanza talks about women and how they are affected by the patriarchy through the generations: in childhood, in young adulthood, in old age, and in the eternal world. The patriarchy seems like a bruise on the surface, and many people believe it is one--Something that will just keep on gradually getting better with time--but bruises have to come from somewhere. The patriarchy is more like a heart murmur: its something we seem to have been born with, at times it has caused immense pain, and at other times it's barely noticeable. The treatment for such an affliction is much more complex. In the poem I've recognized some of the symptoms, but we as a whole must work together to figure out a cure; I'm no surgeon.
What is something you learned about patriarchy and what is something you would like to change about what you learned?
I have learned throughout my life that patriarchy runs deeper within us than I had ever thought or had been taught when I was younger. Like any bias, it is constantly perpetuated by even people with the best of intentions. For this reason it's so difficult to cut it out of society, because in reality it's not evil--it's a part of our lives that causes pain.
Project File
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