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Written by: Mishita Khurana (she/her)
In the world of physics, it is considered impossible for perpetual motion machines to be a reality. A machine that can work helped by its own engineering for infinite time is improbable since, in the simplest terms, it is assumed that external forces like friction would eventually cause enough imbalances in energy to make it stop.
A perpetual motion machine works on two physical principles, it must not get affected by any other external forces, and there is an energy (and power) balance, where the energy going into the machine must be equal to the energy out. The only perpetual motion system that has been able to stand the test of time and not succumb to such forces has been patriarchy. Now, patriarchy is not a real machine of course, but it sure does act as disciplined and engineered as one. The gear of institutionalised discrimination, the lever of forbidden career options, the spindle of societal expectations, the shaft of unrecognised domestic work, the fasteners of unfair stereotypes and the motor of misogyny at the heart of it all, patriarchy has had its rules entrenched so deep in the current world, that any effort to challenge the power hierarchy has only resulted in greater backlash to try and restore the unfair power balance.
Take abortion rights for example. Roe. V. Wade (1973) , a federal mandate that guaranteed women in the United States the right to abortion, was put into effect years ago but since then there have been countless efforts to abolish this right to their own body. And in a horrific turn of events this recently became a reality when Roe. V. Wade got overturned on 24th of June by the United States Supreme Court. But 24th of June did not come out of nowhere. Anti-abortionists have been working towards this decision for years, mainly through lobbying and funding anti-abortion organisations and churches leading to a build-up of regressive ideas, and unfortunately the present-day situation.
This is not the first time when women’s rights or authority in society have been threatened. Historically, women who used to be healers were often suspected to be witches and thus were easily incriminated. Even though, impressively, a lot of their practices are still mirrored in modern medicine, including using Willow Bark for inflammation because of its salicin content that was eventually refined into salicylic acid. The modern-day equivalent of this is aspirin. But the position of a healer in society comes with a lot of authority and when the witch hunts first started around the 14th Century, they acted as an easy excuse to execute or at least accuse every woman - who deviated from the expected norm of being submissive by being outspoken - to be a witch. This primarily included healers and midwifery, professions where women used to exercise authority. Instead, we saw the advent of modern medicine, a field from which women were conveniently barred from participating in.
Over time, there was resistance, a force to stop this perpetual machine and take back the independence unfairly seized. But as most perpetual machines are, it must protect itself and its design so instead women are given illusions of empowerment, that are supposed to signify that society is changing but the machine is still very much alive, running, and intact. Nowadays we see a lot more women involved in the health sector and yet you would not see them as much in positions of authority. There are a lot more male doctors and a lot more female nurses. And while nursing is an extremely credible profession, there is a considerable lack of space for women in the positions of doctors. Underneath it all there still lie the gendered roles of being caring and maternal to aid the patients, a role seen as better suited for ‘women’ given its association to majority feminine (what society considers feminine) characteristics, but not strong enough to take the lead and make decisions, only following the orders of a male figure of authority.
In the end, you cannot deny the progress that has been made. A lot of women these days are in a far better position than the past. However, by only acknowledging the progress, we do a disservice to the thousands, if not millions, of women for whom a more independent life is yet to become a reality. As seen from the examples above, the situation would not improve unless we challenge the very core of this perpetual motion machine: the institutionalised discrimination and unfair systems put in place that allow patriarchy to thrive while doing the opposite for women.