Misandry is hatred (or contempt) of men or boys.
Misandry comes from
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
misogunia (μισογυνία) from
misos (μῖσος, "hatred") and
anēr,
andros (ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός; "man"). It is parallel to
misogynyMisogyny is hatred of women or girls. Misogyny comes from Greek misogunia from misos and gynē . It is parallel to misandry—the hatred of men or boys. Misogyny is also comparable with misanthropy which is the hatred of humanity in general...
—the hatred of women or girls. Misandry is also comparable with (but not the same as)
misanthropyMisanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the human species. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος and άνθρωπος .-Forms:...
which is the hatred of humanity in general. The prefix
miso-, meaning 'Hatred' or 'To hate' applies in many other words, such as misogyny, misocapny, misogomy, misarchy and misoxeny.
Classics professor Froma Zeitlin of
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
discussed misandry in her article titled "Patterns of Gender in Aeschylean Drama: Seven against Thebes and the Danaid Trilogy." She writes:
In his book,
Gender and Judaism: The transformation of tradition, Harry Brod, a Professor of Philosophy and Humanities in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the
University of Northern IowaThe University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is a state-supported university that offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.The Fall 2009...
, writes:
Julie M.
Misandry is hatred (or contempt) of men or boys.
Misandry comes from
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
misogunia (μισογυνία) from
misos (μῖσος, "hatred") and
anēr,
andros (ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός; "man"). It is parallel to
misogynyMisogyny is hatred of women or girls. Misogyny comes from Greek misogunia from misos and gynē . It is parallel to misandry—the hatred of men or boys. Misogyny is also comparable with misanthropy which is the hatred of humanity in general...
—the hatred of women or girls. Misandry is also comparable with (but not the same as)
misanthropyMisanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the human species. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος and άνθρωπος .-Forms:...
which is the hatred of humanity in general. The prefix
miso-, meaning 'Hatred' or 'To hate' applies in many other words, such as misogyny, misocapny, misogomy, misarchy and misoxeny.
Misandry in ancient Greek literature
Classics professor Froma Zeitlin of
Princeton UniversityPrinceton University a private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League and is considered one of the Colonial Colleges....
discussed misandry in her article titled "Patterns of Gender in Aeschylean Drama: Seven against Thebes and the Danaid Trilogy." She writes:
Misandry and literary criticism
In his book,
Gender and Judaism: The transformation of tradition, Harry Brod, a Professor of Philosophy and Humanities in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the
University of Northern IowaThe University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is a state-supported university that offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral sciences, and graduate college.The Fall 2009...
, writes:
Julie M. Thompson, a feminist author, connects misandry with envy of men, in particular "
penis envyPenis envy in Freudian psychoanalysis refers to the theorized reaction of a girl during her psychosexual development to the realization that she does not have a penis. Freud considered this realization a defining moment in the development of gender and sexual identity for women...
", a term coined by
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud , Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology...
in 1908, in his theory of female sexual development.
Misandry and feminism
In
My Enemy, My Love (1992),
Judith LevineJudith Levine is an American author, journalist, civil libertarian, anarchist, and co-founder of the National Writers Union, a trade union of contract and freelance writers, and No More Nice Girls, a group dedicated to promoting abortion rights through street theater...
reveals a position of misandry within women when when the following inappropriate labels are applied to males :
- Infants: the Mama's Boy, the Babbler, the Bumbler and the Invalid
- Betrayers: the Seducer, the Slave, the Abandoner and the Abductor
- Beasts: the Brute, the Pet, the Pervert, the Prick and the Killer
Another example of misandry can be found in the
SCUM ManifestoThe SCUM Manifesto is a tract written in 1968 by Valerie Solanas that calls for the gendercide of men...
by
Valerie SolanasValerie Jean Solanas was an American radical feminist writer, best known for her attempted murder of Andy Warhol in 1968. She wrote the SCUM Manifesto which encouraged male gendercide and the creation of an all-female society.-Early life:Solanas was born in Ventnor City, New Jersey to Louis...
, a
radical feministRadical feminism is a "current" within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption of "male supremacy" used to oppress women...
:
Conservative discourse on misandry
Christina Hoff SommersChristina Hoff Sommers is an American author known for her critical stance regarding late 20th century feminism, and her controversial writings about feminism in contemporary American culture...
, a conservative commentator, argues that feminism has a
"corrosive paradox" and that no group of women can wage war on men without at the same time denigrating the women who respect those men.
Wendy McElroyWendy McElroy is a Canadian individualist anarchist and individualist feminist.-Political views:Among feminists, she identifies herself as being sex-positive: defending the availability of pornography and condemning anti-pornography feminism campaigns...
, an individualist feminist and Fox News commentator, argues that some feminists "have redefined the view of the movement of the opposite sex" as "a hot anger toward men seems to have turned into a cold hatred." She argues that men as a class are considered irreformable, all men are considered
rapistsRape, also referred to as sexual assault, is an assault by a person involving sexual intercourse with or without sexual penetration of another person without that person's consent....
, and marriage, rape and
prostitutionProstitution is the act or practice of engaging in sex acts for hire. In most cultures, prostitution is viewed by many as a deviant profession, either illegal or socially discouraged...
are seen as the same.
McElroy states "a new ideology has come to the forefront... radical or gender, feminism", one that has "joined hands with [the]
political correctnessPolitical correctness is a term denoting language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social offense in gender, racial, cultural, handicap, and age-related usages...
movement that condemns the panorama of western civilization as sexist and racist: the product of '
dead white malesDead white males or Dead White European Males is a tongue-in-cheek term that refers to a purportedly disproportionate academic focus on contributions to historical and contemporary Western civilization made by European males....
.'"
Conservative pundit Charlotte Hays argues "that the anti-male philosophy of radical feminism has filtered into the culture at large is incontestable; indeed, this attitude has become so pervasive that we hardly notice it any longer."
Analogies to other forms of bigotry
Masculist writer and frequent speaker at the
Cato InstituteThe Cato Institute is a pro-free market, libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C.The Institute's stated mission is "to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free...
Warren FarrellWarren Farrell is an American author of seven books on men and women's issues. His books cover twelve fields: history, law, sociology and politics ; couples’ communication ; economic and career issues ; child psychology and child custody ; and...
compares dehumanizing stereotyping of men to dehumanization of the
Vietnamese peopleThe Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from what is now northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...
as "gooks."
Religious Studies professors
Paul Nathanson and Katherine YoungPaul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young are religious studies academics and co-researchers for a project funded by the Canadian government, Donner Canadian Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council....
make similar comparisons in their three-book series
Beyond the Fall of Man, which treats misandry as a form of prejudice and discrimination that has become institutionalized in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
n society. Nathanson and Young credit "ideological feminism" for imposing misandry on culture.
Their book
Spreading Misandry (2001) analyzes "pop cultural artifacts and productions from the 1990s" from movies to greeting cards for what they consider contains pervasive messages of hatred toward men.
Legalizing Misandry (2005) the second in the series, gives similar attention to laws in North America.
See also
- Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!
"Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!" is a slogan on a T-shirt by Florida clothing company David and Goliath. The slogan is printed next to a cartoon image of a boy running away from five stones flying in his direction...
- Female chauvinism
- Men's movement
The men's movement is a social movement that includes a number of philosophies and organizations that seek to support men, change the male gender role and improve men's rights in regard to marriage and child access and victims of domestic violence...
- Men's rights
The term men's rights refers to freedoms and entitlements of the male of the human species. This term describes rights specifically related to men and males, and should not be confused with general human rights applicable to all. Men's rights relates to the male role in society...
External links
article critical of the use of the term