Misogyny

Misogyny is a term that refers to the hatred of girls and women. Its counterpart is misandy, the hatred of boys and men. The term derives from the Greek word misos (μῖσος, "hatred") and anēr, gynos (ἀνήρ, ἀνδρός; "woman"). Today, misogyny can be found in all media - from music (misogynist lyrics in hip-hop music); art (overtly sexual depiction of women in art, including comics and film), and in political debates.

Misogyny in Literature

In her 1966 study of misogyny in Literature, 'The Troublesome Helpmate, Katherine Rogers argued that the use of feminine stereotypes such as the old maid were an outlet for male authors' misogyny. Her use of Freudian theory led her to conclude for example that:

• "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."
  
• "Except for Swift, most writers from the early eighteenth century through the nineteenth apparently felt that the "fair sex" had to be treated with at least overt gentleness. Accordingly, denunciations of woman's lust, vindictiveness, or particular propensity toward evil are largely replaced by paternal guidance or playful ridicule of her frivolity. Harshness was reserved for the "unfeminine" woman who dominated her husband, studied Latin, or pursued a career."
  
• "The old maid provided an even more convenient butt for hostility against women, since she did not justify her existence by being a wife or mother. Hence she was often depicted as a figure of fun, stripped of the sentimental chivalry with which other women were swathed, caricatured as ugly, disagreeable, and relentlessly in pursuit of men."
  

Misogyny in Philosophy

• Arthur Schopenhauer has been accused of misogyny 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."
• In Plato's 'Symposium', love of women is often denigrated as inferior and base in comparison to love of men by the various speakers.
  

Misogyny in Politics

In the 2008 campaign to choose a Democratic candidate for US President, some political commentators noted the underlying presence of misogyny in criticisms of Hillary Clinton by her opponents. Facebook, popular with high-school and college students, has dozens of anti-Hillary groups, many of which take great delight in heaping abuse on Clinton as a woman, imagining her reduced to a subservient role, and visiting violence upon her. One is "Hillary Clinton: Stop Running for President and Make Me a Sandwich," with more than 23,000 members and 2,200 "wall posts."

Sources

• http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/rogers1.html#contents
  
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny
  
• http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004041541_hillaryslurs29.html