In an interview for British GQ’s December issue, conservatives’ favorite clinical psychologist, Jordan Peterson, duels with Helen Lewis over the feminist argument that Western civilization is a tyrannical “patriarchy.”
Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, has become world famous for his refusal to accept the premises of left-wing academia, particularly regarding gender, identity politics, and political correctness. Peterson’s interview with Lewis, the video of which was posted at the end of October, has garnered over 5 million views.
As Lewis explains in a response to the interview published the same day the video was released (see below), one of her primary goals for the hour-and-a-half interview was to challenge Peterson on his rejection of orthodox modern feminist views. The result is moments like the one highlighted by Red State’s Alex Parker, in which Peterson takes on Lewis’ claim that western civilization is still a “male-dominated society.”
“Our culture confuses men’s desire for achievement and competence with the patriarchal desire for tyrannical power. And that’s a big mistake,” says Peterson (comments start around the 4:00 mark). Lewis uses this comment as a jumping off point for the discussion of Peterson’s arguments against the modern feminist concept of the patriarchy as a “male-dominated society.” When she asks him to define what he means by patriarchy, Peterson responds with a question: “Well, in what sense is our society male-dominated?”- READ MORE