DOMINATOR AND PARTNERSHIP MODELS

Seven Basic, Interactive, and Mutually Supporting Differences as proposed by Riane Eisler in "Sacred Pleasure: Sex, Myth, and the Politics of the Body - New Paths to Power and Love"

GENDER RELATIONS
DOMINATOR MODEL
The male is ranked over the female, and the traits and social values stereotypically associated with "masculinity" are valued more highly than those associated with "femininity."*
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
Females and males are equally valued in the governing ideology, and stereotypically "feminine" values such as nurturance and nonviolence can be given operational primacy.

* Please note that the terms "femininity" and "masculinity" as used here correspond to the sexual stereotypes socially constructed for a dominator society (wherein masculinity is equated with dominance and conquest, and femininity with passivity and submissiveness) and not to any inherent female or male traits.

VIOLENCE
DOMINATOR MODEL
A high degree of social violence and abuse is institutionalized, ranging from wife-and-child beating, rape, and warfare to psychological abuse by "superiors" in the family, the work place, and society at large.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
Violence and abuse are not structural components of the system, so that boys and girls can be taught nonviolent conflict resolution. Accordingly, there is a low degree of social violence.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
DOMINATOR MODEL
The social structure is predominantly hierarchic* and authoritarian, with the degree of authoritarianism and hierarchism roughly corresponding to the degree of male dominance.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
The social structure is more generally egalitarian, with difference (be it based on gender, race, religion, sexual preference, or belief system) not automatically associated with superior or inferior social and/or economic status.

*As used here, the term hierarchic refers to what we may call a domination hierarchy, or the type of hierarchy inherent in a dominator model of social organization, based on fear and the threat of pain. Such hierarchies should be distinguished from a second type of hierarchy, which may be called an actualization hierarchy. An example from biology is the hierarchy of molecules, cells, and organs in the body: a progression toward a higher and more complex level of function. In social systems, hierarchies of actualization go along with the equation of power with the power to create and to elicit from oneself and others our highest potential.

SEXUALITY
DOMINATOR MODEL
Coercion is a major element in mate selection, sexual intercourse, and procreation, with the erotization of dominance and/or the repression of erotic pleasure through fear. Primary functions of sex are male procreation and male sexual release.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
Mutual respect and freedom of choice for both females and males are characteristic of mate selection, sexual intercourse, and procreation. Primary functions of sex are the bonding between female and male through the give and take of mutual pleasure, and the reproduction of species.

SPIRITUALITY
DOMINATOR MODEL
Man and spirituality are ranked over woman and nature, justifying their domination and exploitation. The powers that govern the universe are imaged as punitive entities, be it as a detached father whose orders must be obeyed on pain of terrible punishments, a cruel mother, or demons and monsters who delight in arbitrarily tormenting humans, and hence must be placated.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
The spiritual dimension of woman's and nature's life-giving and sustaining powers is recognized and highly valued, as are these powers in men. Spirituality is linked with empathy and equity, and the divine is imaged through myths and symbols of unconditional love.

PLEASURE AND PAIN
DOMINATOR MODEL
The infliction or threat of pain is integral to systems maintenance. The pleasures of touch in both sexual and parent-child relations are associated with domination and submission, and thus also with pain, be it in the so-called carnal love of sex or in submission to a "loving" deity. The infliction and/or suffering of pain are sacralized.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
Human relations are held together more by pleasure bonds than by fear of pain. The pleasures of caring behaviours are socially supported, and pleasure is associated with empathy for others. Caretaking, lovemaking, and other activities that give pleasure are considered sacred.

POWER AND LOVE
DOMINATOR MODEL
The highest power is the power to dominate and destroy, symbolized since remote antiquity by the lethal power of the blade. "Love" and "passion" are frequently used to justify violent and abusive actions by those who dominate, as in the killing of women by men when they suspect them of sexual independence, or in "holy wars" said to be waged out of love for a deity that demands obeisance from all.
PARTNERSHIP MODEL
The highest power is the power to give, nurture, and illuminate life, symbolized since remote antiquity by the holy chalice or grail. Love is recognized as the highest expression of the evolution of life on our planet, as well as the universal unifying power.

forecast

"There will be stories about how we humans are conceived in delight and rapture, not in sin. There will be images spiritualizing the erotic, rather than eroticizing violence and domination. And rather than myths about our salvation through violence and pain, there will be myths about our salvation through caring and pleasure." [Riane Eisler: Sacred Pleasure]

hallmark of dominators

Wherein women (or men taking the woman's traditional role) are "subject to the control of others who treat them as incompetent inferiors, intrude into their sexual lives, suspect them of wrongdoing, and generally accord them little dignity, independence, or self-worth." [Riane Eisler: Sacred Pleasure]

TOP 20 MODERN ERA CONS: #20: the sublimation of sensuality into ice cream sales

DON'T buy into the promise of hagen-daz happiness! the combination of dairy, sweet, and cold predisposes the body to conditions of damp overgrowth, itself a precursor for cancers, calcifications, derangement of informational substances in the blood, general inflammatory response and hypotonicity of organs.

DO look upon sensual experience (tactiles, visuals, sounds, smells, tastes, kinestheticas, contemplative presence, biophotonics and the emotions), as first and foremost a thing vital and necessary for health and wholeness. without sufficient feeding and inputs, the animal body withers. this in turn creates compensatory distortions at the level of psyche and habits. we make poor judgements and tend to act in our own counter-interests when our capacity for and experience with sensual pleasure is lacking or unchallenged in its neurotic affects.

the ultimate goal is to first accord oneself the right to a liberated body, radically self-accepted, radically cherished and radically honoured; to take perceptions and actions out of the work camp of dreary programmed gestures, constrained body language, and retro roleplay assignments, move beyond the thin surface of the skin, beyond inherited inter-personal models of a bygone era, and beyond the low dome of coarsest (if not completely diminished) senses in order to begin again in innocence. new citizens can move into the deeper and more specialized gradations where ecstasy and spirit and stuff merge into revelations of a fundamental nature. we are here amid the bounty of mortal existence with our knowledge and our questions, with new tools, smarter strategies and more enlivened modes of being that stand ready to serve us.

DO buy fullfat organic coconut milk, pour it into a squat glass container and add a microdash of stevia powder, or a tablespoon of coconut sugar. add essence of vanilla or rose. whisk gently, seal and keep in the coldest part of the fridge. it will thicken slightly overnight, almost to the consistency of a clotted cream. when a craving for creamy sweet cold strikes, pause over a few tablespoons straight out of the jar or stripe over some fresh fruit. coconut milk is rich in vitamins and minerals (especially potassium, calcium, and chloride), is anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, and anti-fungal, and a rich source of short- and medium-chained fatty acids that are quickly converted to energy, not fat.