Beyond ‘Because I Told You So’ – Taking The Power Play Out Of Parenting

The images with this article are meant to be controversial, and I have to say I was sceptical when I first saw the term ‘adult supremacy’. But when I read Vyvian Raoul’s piece, I actually felt myself opening up to the idea it puts forward.

In essence, it is about how we view children as a society. It is about attempting to rethink the idea that just because someone relies on you in some way, you automatically have power or dominion over them. This is true for minorities or vulnerable groups of any kind, and it includes young people, so argues Raoul.

I was particularly struck by this quote by Stinney Distro, whose book Raoul mentions in the article:

'Every hierarchy, every abuse, every act of domination that seeks to justify or excuse itself appeals through analogy to the rule of adults over children. We are all indoctrinated from birth in ways of “because I said so.” The flags of supposed experience, benevolence, and familial obligation are the first of many paraded through our lives to celebrate the suppression of our agency, the dismissal of our desires, the reduction of our personhood.’

All in all an eye-opening read.