Misogyny

Misogyny () is hatred of or strong prejudice against women. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος (misos, "hatred") + γυνη (gunê, "woman"). Compared with anti-woman sexism or misandry (hatred of or strong prejudice against men), misogyny is usually regarded as directed against women by some men, though women can also hold misogynistic views. In feminist theory, misogyny is recognized as a political ideology - similar to racism or anti-Semitism - that justifies and maintains the subordination of women by men.

Forms of misogyny

There are many different forms of misogyny. In its most overt expression, a misogynist will openly hate all women simply because they are female. Some sexual predators may fall into this category.

Other forms of misogyny may be more subtle. Some misogynists may simply be prejudiced against all women, or may hate women who don't fall into one or more acceptable categories. Entire cultures may be said to be misogynist if they treat women in ways that can be seen as harmful. Examples include forcing women to tend to all domestic responsibilities, demanding silence from a woman, or beating a woman. Subscribers to one model, the mother/whore dichotomy, hold that women can only be "mothers" or "whores." Another variant is the virgin/whore dichotomy--in which women who do not adhere to a saintly standard of moral purity are considered "whores."

Frequently the term misogynist is used in a looser sense as a term of derision to describe anyone who holds an unpopular or distasteful view about women as a group. A man who considers himself "a great lover of women," therefore, might somewhat paradoxically be termed a misogynist by those who consider his treatment of women sexist. Archetypes of this type of man might be Giacomo Casanova (a historical figure) and Don Juan (fictional character), who were both reputed for their many libertine affairs with women. While a "seducer" like Casanova or Don Juan might appear outwardly charming and to enjoy the company of women, many do not, at root, respect women or find them interesting as anything besides sex objects. (In Kingsley Amis's 1965 study of the James Bond novels, The James Bond Dossier, he notes that critics are not really paying attention to the actual novels when they accuse Bond of being a libertine or womanizer; Bond has one romantic affair per book and is invariably willing to risk his life to protect his lover. He is more a chivalrous knight who engages in love affairs than a cold-hearted seducer.)

Misogyny is a negative attitude towards women as a group, and as such need not fully determine a misogynist's attitude towards each individual woman. The fact that someone holds misogynist views may not prevent them from having positive relationships with some women. Conversely, simply having positive relationships with some women does not necessarily mean someone does not also hold misogynist views.

Misogyny in philosophy and religion

Many religions and philosophies contain what could be called misogyny.

During the Great Jubilee, Pope John Paul II issued an apology for all the past sins of the Roman Catholic Church, dividing the sins into seven categories. Amongst general sins, sins in service of the truth, sins against Christian unity, sins against Jews, sins against respect of love, peace and culture, and sins against human rights, he also apologized for sins against the dignity of women and minorities.

The 16th century Protestant reformer John Knox wrote a book called The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women in which he argued against the ability of women to govern.

Some of the most famous philosophers exhibited misogyny at times. Arthur Schopenhauer, in a very sophisticated epistemological discussion in his main work, included the sentence, "Reason is feminine in nature: it can only give after it has received". Nietzsche is known for arguing that every higher form of civilisation implied stricter controls on women [Beyond Good and Evil, 7:238]; he frequently insulted women, but is best known for the phrases, "Women are less than shallow", "Woman was God's second blunder," and "Are you going to women? Do not forget the whip!" Napoleon, Machiavelli, Aristotle, Tolstoy and even the progressive Rousseau were also known for making such comments about women. (It should also be noted, however, that philosophers such as Pythagoras, John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Engels, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Henry George supported feminism.)

The philosopher Otto Weininger would have to be a contender for the greatest as well as one of the most influential of all misogynists. In his book Sex and Character (1903) he characterized the "woman" part of each individual as being essentially "nothing", and having no real existence, having no effective consciousness or rationality. Weininger says, "No men who really think deeply about women retain a high opinion of them; men either despise women or they have never thought seriously about them." The author August Strindberg praised Weininger for probably having solved the hardest of all problems, the "woman problem".

In more recent times Dave Sim, acclaimed independent comic book creator, has produced a significant misogynist literature, characterizing women as "The Merged Void"[1].

Misogyny in language

Many slang terms that refer to women are considered offensive by some women; such terms have existed throughout history, and change over time. These terms aren't only used by some men, they are also used by some women. Some of those common in contemporary usage are:
Babe: A diminutive or familiar way to address a woman. More commonly said to a partner, in a similar way to "honey" or baby. Historically, baby is the diminutive of babe, but baby has taken its place in all but this and poetic contexts, where it is synonymous.
Bimbo: demeaning way to address a woman. Commonly said to a woman considered to be lacking in intelligence or a woman considered to be sexually attractive or both. Bimbo is the Italian word for baby, which might apply to a male baby (Bimba is the Italian word for a female baby) or baby in general. It was originially used to refer a prostitute working for an Italian organized crime organisation. It's still used by Italians much as the same way as Babe or Baby used by North Americans.
Bird: British English, some women see it as demeaning. Also commonly used in modern Ireland and Australia where it is not considered very demeaning.
Chick: literally a young chicken or young bird of any kind, this term is mildly offensive to some women who interpret it to be infantilizing or objectifying; it is chiefly an Americanism. It is sometimes claimed that the usage derives from the Spanish chica (girl), but neither the Oxford English Dictionary nor Merriam-Webster supports this derivation. The word chick was used in a gender-neutral sense to mean "human child" at least as early as the 14th century. The popularity of the usage in North America may, nonetheless, be due in part to its similarity to the Spanish word.
Sheila: used in Australia.
Skeezer: used in some hip-hop recordings.

In some cultural groups, terms considered extremely offensive to most women (e.g., bitch, cunt, or ho) are used to refer to women in general. Many terms that refer to women's physical appearance (e.g., hottie, a sexually attractive woman) see wide use, but many consider them to imply sexual objectification.

Misogyny and Crime

Many statistics collected about rape, incest, and domestic violence show that women are more often the victims of sex related crimes. For example, statistics collected from the 2004 National Crime Victimization Survey state that females were more likely thanmales to report violent victimizations to the police. This is not to say that men are not sexually victimized, especially male teenagers or young boys, as the stats also say that "10% of sexual assault victims are men." However, there appears to be a disproportional number of female victims. As the survey points out: "One in six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape," and that the aggressors of these attacks are mostly male attackers that the women knows like a boyfriend, neighbor, relative, etc.(67% of sexual assaults were perpetrated by a non-stranger.) Many feminists would point to these statistics as an example of a cultural proliferation of violence aimed at women.

External links

*Misogyny, Misandry, and Misanthropy

Misogyny: Encyclopedia BETA

Contents