#this one im currently reading is blissfully unaware of the show dont tell rule

[doodle-dog-diary]

Doodle Gets Radicalized by Shitty Bad Chinese Historical Romance Novels:

Episode #503: Marriage, Social Mobility, and Reason Number One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Three on Why the Patriarchy Can Get Fucked

While reading another SBCHRN today, came across a saying that went something along the lines of "a man should marry a woman of a lower rank, but a woman should marry a man of a higher rank". (That said, it's still not really acceptable to marry too far outside your station, e.g. a peasant woman marrying a wealthy official would be seen as, like, a gold digger)

Which is interesting, bc this means that people ARE aware that marriage was the only way for a woman to improve her social standing back in the day. AND that there's a sort of unspoken social contract that since the system is already rigged against women in that way, men kind of have a moral obligation to uplift lower class women if they can.

Which is...nice?

BUT

THAT means the welfare of not-so-well-off women are basically hinging on rich men not being assholes. (I don't think I need to elaborate on why that's. Like. A lot to hope for.)

Which is BAD. The welfare of women relying solely on the goodwill of the men in their lives, in a time when being a woman meant having essentially no financial independence, little to no education, and very few rights, is like, really really bad. "Men should uplift women through marriage :)" is AT MOST a nice gesture, a nice thought to have, a safety net, but it CANNOT BE a replacement for a broken system that is inherently rigged against and actively punishes women for being women.

Oh whoops! It's 2 am! My consciousness is fading! Tune in next week for episode #620: Neither Your Evil Mother In Law NOR That Bitch Who Keeps Trying to Steal Your Man Is The Antagonist, Actually, The PATRIARCHY IS 🔥🔥🔥

Captive audience tag bc I refuse to suffer through this alone: @rt-nique @almostpsyche