It was like the patriarchal domination women in the consciousness raising group were talking about. There was a double standard. I realized that if I wanted to change things for the better, I should go home where my voice could be heard. I should go to the source of the problem. At that time I had also developed a theory of what was wrong and how to change it.
Exchange is ego oriented while gift giving is other oriented.
Our society bases all our economic and many of our human interactions on exchange. Patriarchal capitalism is a way of channeling the gifts of the many away from needs to become profit for a few. The values of competition and hierarchy when put into practice reward the few with positiions of domination. Gift giving, which is directed towards needs is in direct opposition to those values. In fact, if everyone were giving to everyone else, there would be no need to exchange.