Mechanisms of patriarchy - medieval and modern iterations

And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair. 
- John Donne, 'Song: Go and catch a falling star' 

You clearly were not listening to my topic sentence: Get your women in line 
- Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory S05E08
 


Last September, the Spanish tech journalist Marta Peirano wrote a brilliant column about the phenomenon of pornographic deepfakes. This abomination of modern technology consists of making artificial pornographic images through so-called Artificial Intelligence. What makes this phenomenon particularly damaging is that this technology allows people to create such images of whomever they wish, and whomever they whish to publicly shame. In an age of social media and the virtual lack of any real and effective control of content dissemination, such artificially made images can be used to damage the life of any woman, and any girl. Marta Peirano noted that this technology is a form of patriarchal propaganda, one that serves to keep women and girl in a state of fear and uncertainty, and one that can be used to destroy reputations and lives through public shaming. In practice, it matters little that these images are fake, because the images will appear to provide evidence for all kinds of charges laid at the feet of these women and these girls. The column has stayed with me ever since, and with the growing sophistication of Artificial Intelligence, this particular mechanism of patriarchy has become increasingly relevant. It is a tragic and repulsive reminder that so many men - as well as some women - will happily use the historically entrenched misogyny of our own times to ruin the lives and reputations of women and girls. An important part of this tragedy is that these pornographic deepfakes are built on a long-standing asymmetry in the gender roles of contemporary societies, where women are more easily hurt and damaged by charges of promiscuity than are men. Deepfakes also exploit the very public nature of such charges, in that they make public spaces - in this case mainly online spaces - unpleasant or even downright dangerous for women. It is about the control of women and girls, and about reminding them that they are second-rate human beings in the eyes of those that shame them.   

The issue of such mechanisms of patriarchy came resurfaced in my mind the other day as I read a modern Norwegian translation of the saga called Möttuls saga, which means The saga of the cloak, which in the Nynorsk form of modern Norwegian is called Soga om kappa. The story is an Old Norse translation of an Old French fablieau known both as Le lai du cort mantel and Le mantel mautaillié. The translation was commissioned by the Norwegian king Håkon IV (r.1217-63), during whose reign a lot of chivalric stories and other aspects of French courtly culture were transmitted and adapted to the Norwegian context. The eponymous cloak is said to have been woven by four elven women and fashioned in such an exquisite way that the seams can not be detected, and it is impossible to say how it has been made.

The cloak has one main property. It will fit perfectly to a chaste woman, but if any woman has been unfaithful or unchaste, it will either become too short or too large. The cloak is brought to the court of King Arthur by an envoy, and the envoy makes the king promise to have all the women at court try on the magical cloak. When the king learns of the cloak's magical property, he regrets his promise but feels obliged to stick to his word. As a consequence, all the women at court - except one young maiden - are shown in a public display to be either unchaste or unfaithful. The episode brings great shame on both the women and their paramours, but, of course, mainly on the women. Moreover, and just as unsurprising, the men are not asked to do a similar test. 

The saga of the cloak shows a mechanism that is essentially similar to the modern pornographic deepfakes, in that its sole purpose is to publicly shame women who do not conform to a particular ideal, or - in other words - refuse to submit to the rules of patriarchy. Such mechanisms exist in all patriarchies - and I do believe it is more accurate to use the plural form than the singular - and their functions are all the same, only the forms change. To compare such mechanisms across times and across culture serves as a reminder that misogyny and the control of women are two aspects of modern society that both have deep roots and also continue to sprout new buds. Modern popular culture is full of these mechanisms, and, perhaps more importantly, full of characters or ideas that serve to normalise and perpetuate them. 

Modern misogyny and patriarchy often hide behind notions of the past being much worse, which in turn cultivates a sense that the modern atrocities are somehow less problematic. This is a very stupid idea, but it is very common and therefore the strategy works. When we start to recognising these mechanisms and their various forms, however, it might serve as an awakening to some of us, and serve as a first step towards refusing to perpetuate such mechanisms and realise the absolute horror of the life-destroying potential of Artificial Intelligence wielded in the name of patriarchy.