Misogyny: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 05:10, 1 May 2007 view sourceScribblingwoman (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users5,639 editsm →Further reading: formatting← Previous edit		Revision as of 06:06, 1 May 2007 view source 132.241.246.111 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit →
Line 95:		Line 95:
	*		*

			]
	]		]
	]		]

Revision as of 06:06, 1 May 2007

Misogyny (GA /mɪ.ˈsɑ.ʤə.ni/, RP /mɪ.ˈsɒ.ʤə.ni/) is hatred 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, strong prejudice against men), misogyny is termed by most feminist theories as a political ideology like racism and antisemitism that justifies and maintains the subordination of women to men.

Forms of misogyny

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Misogyny" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2006) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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 do not 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 and Don Juan, who were both reputed for their many libertine affairs with women. Misogyny is a negative attitude towards women as a group, and so 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 negative relationships with some women does not necessarily mean someone holds misogynistic views. The term, like most negative descriptions of attitudes, is used as an epithet and applied to a wide variety of behaviors and attitudes. As with other terms, the more antipathetic one's position is in regards to misogyny, the larger the number of misogynists and the greater variety of attitudes and behaviors who fall into one's perception of "misogynist". This is, of course, the subject of much controversy and debate with opinions ranging widely as to the extent and breadth of misogyny in society.

Misogyny in philosophy and religion

Some 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.

Some feminists are fiercely critical of what they see as misogyny in the church: "The foundations of early Christian misogyny- its guilt about sex, its insistence on female subjection, its dread of female seduction- are all in St. Paul's epistles. They provided a convenient supply of divinely inspired misogynistic texts for any Christian writer who chose to use them; his statements on female subjection were still being quoted in the twentieth century opponents of equality for women" The Troublesome Helpmate: A History of Misogyny in Literature Katherine M. Rogers, 1966. Writers such as John Knox have been singled out for criticism.

However, given that Mary Magdalene became a saint and was one of the first witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus, many argue that Christianity has ultimately raised the status of women, despite the attitudes of some individuals. In the New Testament, Jesus treats women with respect, even going so far as to save a woman caught in adultery from stoning in John 8. See the article on Christian feminism for a fuller discussion. The role of women in other religions such as Islam is discussed at Feminist Theology.

Arthur Schopenhauer is famous for his essay "On Women" (Über die Weiber), in which he expressed his opposition to what he called "Teutonico-Christian stupidity" on female affairs. He claimed that "woman is by nature meant to obey." The essay does give two compliments however: that "women are decidedly more sober in their judgment than are" and are more sympathetic to the suffering of others. However, the latter was discounted as weakness rather than humanitarian virtue.

Nietzsche is known for arguing that every higher form of civilization implied stricter controls on women ; he frequently insulted women, but is best known for phrases such as "Women are less than shallow," and "Are you going to women? Do not forget the whip!" Nietzche's reputation as a misogynist is disputed by some, pointing out that he also made unflattering statements about men. Nietszche can easily be interpreted as anti-feminist, believing that women were primarily mothers and opposing the modern notion of women's liberation on the grounds that he considered it a form of slave morality. Whether or not this amounts to misogyny, whether his polemic statements against women are meant to be taken literally, and the exact nature of his opinions of women, are more controversial.

The philosopher Otto Weininger, in his 1903 book Sex and Character, 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".

Misogyny in literature

In an article titled World Religions, Women and Education, Ursula King clearly states that women "were always excluded from formal education once sacred knowledge became transmitted in an institutional manner".

-In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the main character Hamlet shows misogyny that develops throughout the play.

Misogyny in Black America

A reoccurring problem in black culture, misogyny against black women has become a serious problem. Perhaps made more popular by gangsta rap, this is not a recent problem. This exploitation began during slavery with the raping of black women and girls. An inferiority complex has developed over the years since then with negative references to commonly black features such as “nappy” or natural African hair, large hips and backsides and dark skin. The effects of this are seen in gangsta rap music and music videos where the ideal image of beauty is one that does not reflect African American qualities. Constant referencing to women as “ho’s” and “tricks” does nothing to improve the image.

While gangsta rap is a big contributor to this ever growing problem, perhaps a deeper look into American society will reveal that it is simply an extension of female exploitation that has been going since the beginning of time. <http://www.unc.edu/~trevitte/Comp/hooks.htm>

Notes

Burgard, Peter J. (1994). Nietzsche and the Feminine. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press. pp. p. 11. ISBN 0-8139-1495-7. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |origdate= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
Robert C. Holub, Nietzsche and The Women's Question. Coursework for Berkley University
Izenberg, Gerald N. (2001). "review of Chandak Sengoopta's Otto Weininger: Sex, Science, and Self in Imperial Vienna". The American Historical Review. 106 (3): pp. 1074-1075. Retrieved 2007-01-08. {{cite journal}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
King, Ursula (1987). "World Religions, Women and Education". Comparative Education. 23 (1): 35–49. ISSN 0305-0068 (print); ISSN 1360-0486 (online). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

Misogyny, Misandry, and Misanthropy

Misandry

Categories:

Misplaced Pages