Misogyny

"Yes, women are the greatest evil Zeus has made, and men are bound to them hand and foot with impossible knots by God."—Semonides, seventh century B.C. Men put women on a pedestal to worship them from afar—and to take better aim at them for the purpose of derision. Why is this paradoxical response to women so widespread, so far-reaching, so all-pervasive? Misogyny, David D. Gilmore suggests, is best described as a male malady, as it has always been a characteristic shared by human societies throughout the world. Misogyny: The Male Malady is a comprehensive historical and anthropological survey of woman-hating that casts new light on this age-old bias. The turmoil of masculinity and the ugliness of misogyny have been well documented in different cultures, but Gilmore's synoptic approach identifies misogyny in a variety of human experiences outside of sex and marriage and makes a fresh and enlightening contribution toward understanding this phenomenon. Gilmore maintains that misogyny is so widespread and so pervasive among men that it must be at least partly psychogenic in origin, a result of identical experiences in the male developmental cycle, rather than caused by the environment alone. Presenting a wealth of compelling examples—from the jungles of New Guinea to the boardrooms of corporate America—Gilmore shows that misogynistic practices occur in hauntingly identical forms. He asserts that these deep and abiding male anxieties stem from unresolved conflicts between men's intense need for and dependence upon women and their equally intense fear of that dependence. However, misogyny, according to Gilmore, is also often supported and intensified by certain cultural realities, such as patrilineal social organization; kinship ideologies that favor fraternal solidarity over conjugal unity; chronic warfare, feuding, or other forms of intergroup violence; and religious orthodoxy or asceticism. Gilmore is in the end able to offer steps toward the discovery of antidotes to this irrational but global prejudice, providing an opportunity for a lasting cure to misogyny and its manifestations.

New aspects of the misogyny that impacts girls and women worldwide continue to emerge every day. However, recent movements (e.g., #MeToo, Time's Up, the Women's March) indicate a strong hunger for a meaningful resource for thoughtful activists. Impassioned but practical, this book discusses the social contexts of misogyny, such as toxic masculinity and rape culture. It traces the history of misogyny and considers its meaning today-what is new and what is old. The author also proposes strategies for effective feminist action. Written for advocates of gender equality who are already aware of misogyny, the book includes Action Steps as tools for activism on both the individual and political levels. Misogyny is a timely text that offers concrete guidance as we strive for the egalitarian society that, despite all setbacks, we are capable of achieving.

Down Girl is a broad, original, and far ranging analysis of what misogyny really is, how it works, its purpose, and how to fight it. The philosopher Kate Manne argues that modern society's failure to recognize women's full humanity and autonomy is not actually the problem. She argues instead that it is women's manifestations of human capacities -- autonomy, agency, political engagement -- is what engenders misogynist hostility.

This set surveys American misogyny in all its cultural forms, from popular music, film, and education to healthcare, politics, and business. The work also assesses proposals to confront and reduce such expressions of hatred. The essays contained in this two-volume set explore misogyny within various areas of American culture to demonstrate its pervasiveness and identify common foundations of its many presentations. Beyond a basic definition of misogyny, which includes hatred of women and girls and the ways in which this hatred and distrust influences action, speech, discrimination, policy, and culture in the United States, this project also aims to expand and complicate definitions of misogyny in order to provide readers with a robust introduction to and understanding of the larger topic. Given the current political and cultural climate and the more frequent and widespread use of the term "misogyny" by various media outlets and voters during the 2016 presidential election, this book has the potential both to contribute to ongoing conversations on misogyny and, among its intended audience of advanced high school, beginning college students and the general public, to inform a shift currently unfolding in public conversation on the topic.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1989.

New aspects of the misogyny that impacts girls and women worldwide continue to emerge every day. However, recent movements (e.g., #MeToo, Time's Up, the Women's March) indicate a strong hunger for a meaningful resource for thoughtful activists. Impassioned but practical, this book discusses the social contexts of misogyny, such as toxic masculinity and rape culture. It traces the history of misogyny and considers its meaning today-what is new and what is old. The author also proposes strategies for effective feminist action. Written for advocates of gender equality who are already aware of misogyny, the book includes Action Steps as tools for activism on both the individual and political levels. Misogyny is a timely text that offers concrete guidance as we strive for the egalitarian society that, despite all setbacks, we are capable of achieving.

Misogyny across Global Media argues that, although women’s experiences under misogyny are by no means universal, patriarchal social and institutional systems facilitate gender-based hostility across the globe. Contributors demonstrate how systemic misogyny and power inequities are at the root of women’s suffering at the hands of misogyny, with consequences ranging from sexual harassment to rape and even murder. This book provides an interdisciplinary overview of systemic misogyny worldwide, analyzing specific cases such as the controversial Child Marriage Act in Bangladesh, sexual harassment in India’s Bollywood culture, rape culture among military forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the murder of female students in Kenya, and femicide in Turkey. This collection discusses how misogyny creates a clash of cultures between men and women, the powerful and the oppressed, and the conservative and the liberal, and uncovers the evils that are perpetrated against women worldwide as a result of systemic misogyny. Scholars of gender studies, media studies, and cultural studies will find this book particularly useful.

"Decades after liberal constitutional democracies ended the laws of patriarchy and committed to gender equality, misogyny still pervades women's lives. Often expressed as hatred and discrimination against women, misogyny is the legal aftermath of patriarchy, which goes beyond attacking and belittling women. After Misogyny reframes misogyny as society's overentitlement to women's forbearance and sacrifices, which continues to be expressed in the law even after patriarchy has been repudiated. Women's contributions, both inside and outside the home, are radically undercompensated and highly beneficial to society-especially the reproductive work of childbearing and childrearing. From antidiscrimination law to abortion bans, the law fails women by keeping the dynamics of social overentitlement and male overempowerment invisible. In recent years, many constitutional democracies have used new processes of constitution-making and constitutional change to reset entitlements and power. After Misogyny shows how movements to reset these baseline entitlements are necessary for constitutional democracies to overcome misogyny"--

Misogyny as Hate Crime explores the background, nature and consequences of misogyny as well as the legal framework and UK policy responses associated with misogyny as a form of hate crime. Taking an intersectional approach, the book looks at how experiences of misogyny may intersect with other forms of hate crime such as disablism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and transphobia. From the sexist and derogatory comments about women by former US President Donald Trump, to legislative changes in Chile and Peru making street harassment illegal, misogyny presents a challenge to scholars, practitioners, policy makers, and women globally. The increasing importance of the internet has seen misogyny move into these digital spaces but has also provided a platform for movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp, highlighting the scale of sexual harassment and abuse. In 2016, Nottinghamshire Police in partnership with Nottingham Women’s Centre became the first force in England and Wales to record misogyny as a hate crime. Since then other police forces have introduced similar schemes to tackle misogyny. More recently, the Law Commission of England and Wales has undertaken a review of the legislation on hate crime and in their consultation paper of proposals for reform have suggested ‘adding sex or gender to the protected characteristics’. In March 2021, the Government announced that police forces in England and Wales will be required to record crimes motivated by hostility based on sex or gender from this autumn. The murder of Sarah Everard has been a ‘watershed moment’ in the Government’s response to violence against women. Sarah Everard’s kidnap and murder who went missing while walking home from a friend’s flat in South London on 3 March 2021, ignited a national conversation about violence against women. Against this background, the book speaks both to the proposed reforms of the hate crime legislation around misogyny, and the broader issues around experiences of and legal responses to misogyny. It showcases the work of leading scholars in this area alongside that of activists and practitioners, whose work has been invaluable in opening up public discussion on misogynistic hate crime and encouraging wider social change. In recognising the intersections of different forms of prejudice, the book provides an innovative contribution to these ‘hate debates’, highlighting the complexities of creating separate strands of hate crime. Providing a comprehensive understanding of the debates around inclusion of misogyny as a form of hate crime, this ground-breaking book will be of great interest to students, scholars and activists interested in gender, hate crime, feminism, criminology, law, policing and sociology.

"A beautifully written and argued book." - Torrey Peters, author of Detransition, Baby There is no shortage of voices demanding everyone pay attention to the violence trans women suffer. But one frighteningly basic question seems never to be answered: why does it happen? If men are not inherently evil and trans women do not intrinsically invite reprisal-which would make violence unstoppable-then the psychology of that violence had to arise at a certain place and time. The trans panic had to be invented. Award-winning historian Jules Gill-Peterson takes us from the bustling port cities of New York and New Orleans to the streets of London and Paris in search of the emergence of modern trans misogyny. She connects the colonial and military districts of the British Raj, the Philippines, and Hawai'i to the lively travesti communities of Latin America, where state violence has stamped a trans label on vastly different ways of life. Weaving together the stories of historical figures in a richly detailed narrative, the book shows how trans femininity emerged under colonial governments, the sex work industry, the policing of urban public spaces, and the area between the formal and informal economy. A Short History of Trans Misogyny is the first book to explain why trans women are burdened by such a weight of injustice and hatred.