In the preface to the second edition of My New Gender Workbook, Kate Bornstein writes (p. xi) that the new edition “look at gender as one of fifteen interdependent spheres of cultural regulation, collectively known as kyriarchy.” A word coined by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992, which she defines as
a neologism…derived from the Greek words for “lord” or “master” (kyrios) and “to rule or dominate” (archein) which seeks to redefine the analytic category of patriarchy in terms of multiplicative intersecting structures of domination… Kyriarchy is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and subordination, of ruling and oppression
Kate Bornstein points out that kyriarchy is “the point of convergence of:
- gender;
- sexuality;
- race;
- looks;
- age;
- disability;
- class;
- mental health;
- religion;
- family/reproductive status;
- language;
- habitat;
- citizenship;
- political ideology; and
- humanity
Kate Bornstein remarks in a shout-out box at the beginning of chapter 1 (p. 1) “from the moment our picture first hits the ultrasound screen, the cry it’s a boy or it’s a girl ushers us into the world” (or historically, from the moment we take our first breath). Kate Bornstein continuous to state “We’re supposed to believe that our genders never shift or waiver”; and that the genders assigned to us at birth (based on our biological tell-tale organs) “lock us onto a course through which we’ll be expected to become whole, well-rounded, creative, loving people—but only as men or as women”. “Gender, this thing we’re all seemingly born with, is a major restraint to self-expression”, she points out.
However, Kate Bornstein, points out (p. 2) that “More and more people are beginning to agree with the idea that gender is more than either/or”.
Bornstein, Kate. 2013. My new gender workbook—a step-by-step guide to achieving world peace through gender anarchy and sex positivity. (2nd ed). New York: Routledge.
