Misogyny and Bachelorhood

Misogyny and Bachelorhood

Early on during the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign, Donald Trump took umbrage at aggressive questioning by Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly at one of the debates. In addition to characterizing her as “not very good or professional,” Mr. Trump said, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”[i] That latter remark triggered a firestorm, with the outspoken candidate being widely accused of misogyny—hating or disliking girls or women.[ii] [iii]

Unfortunately, as with many of the words and phrases that are being carelessly thrown around in these days, they are not necessarily being used to make a rational or coherent point. They are being deployed as weapons of gender manipulation and hate, coopted and maligned by radical feminists and other man-hating ideologues in a quest to undermine male influence and advance selfish agendas.

The notion of “misogyny” dates back to ancient times, when Hesiod, the Greek poet believed to be active between 750 and 650 BC, described women in largely unflattering terms. That said, the term actually had a different meaning back then. According to Hans Licht, author of History of Greek Life and Customs, the pejorative “woman hater” expression was applied mostly to gay men.^{^[iv]} Ironically, it is not uncommon for a modern gay male, which may be vagina-phobic or even disgusted by that part of the female anatomy, to view women as perfect friends.

Individuals Shriek Misogyny

Regardless, when the word misogynistic is used, it is typically uttered in a very disparaging manner. In essence, it is spat at men, mostly by women—often with a raised middle finger, a clenched jaw and exposed teeth—who scream out, “You’re a misogynist!” To an outside observer, it appears as though these women are confronting child molesters, baby rapists or the lowest forms of life on Earth. For some, in fact, the term is viler than the N-word.[v]

Online, there are hordes of web warriors freely writing and repeating the term, anonymously assassinating one another in an attempt to upset, denigrate and injure. A 2006 study of Internet chatrooms[vi] found, for example, that accusations of pervasive online misogyny—amounting to, on average, 100 threatening or sexually abusive messages per user each day—came from accounts with feminine usernames and were directed at those with male usernames. It concluded that female cyber-bullying of men was far more common than the reverse.

In fact, anecdotal and other evidence makes it clear that men rarely use this term, while women say it regularly and repeatedly, almost like a machine gun, “killing” all males within their intended sights. More often than not, if a man writes something that offends a woman in even the slightest way, she’ll quickly shoot back a response with one phrase: misogynist!

Institutionalized Misogyny

Not all of these diatribes target individual males. While women have penned missives against Trump and others, they have also organized attacks aimed at disparaging groups and gatherings of men. Like a nagging wife, significant numbers of women have convinced the Southern Poverty Law Center, for example, that “the manosphere,”[vii] a loose and informal network of blogs, websites and internet commentators that focus on issues related to men and masculinity, is comprised of “hate groups.” Consequently, the SPLC has declared that men who advocate for male gender equality or against marrying American women, or anyone holding opinions that run counter to feminist dogma, are misogynists.

Even bachelors aligned with Men Going their Own Way (MGTOW) and pick-up artists, who probably wouldn’t view themselves as anti-women at all, are deemed to be practicing misogyny. For the most part, men are classified as haters by definition; even those who have been falsely accused of rape are not immune from being characterized in this way. According to the SPLC, virtually any man associated with a male safe-space or group is automatically a misogynist who must be silenced or otherwise stopped.

Academic Identification of Misogyny

The notion that a large number of males—whether or not they say or do the “wrong” things—are women-haters is not limited to entities such as the SPLC. Academia has also imbued scholarly research and educational curricula with a wide range of gender-based distortions. For example, Psychology Today expert Dr. Berit Brogaard,[viii]author of 12 Ways to Spot a Misogynist, identified what he believes are telltale signs of when a man hates a woman:

He approaches her for a date
He makes a promise and does not keep it,
He is late for a date
He is self-centered
He treats women differently than men
His sexual etiquette lacks foreplay

Other academics, most notably those who are involved with women’s and gender studies programs, seem more than willing to support the sort of dangerous thinking that Dr. Brogaard is promoting. Among other things, they are quick to label male students as potential rapists, fueled by misogyny.

And as has been the case for decades, the media and those in publishing and other creative industries are only too happy to provide a forum for those who espouse such views. Magazines such as the Feminist Current claim most men are part of a “culture of predatory misogynists,”[ix] while the Odyssey has said, “maybe all men are misogynists.”[x] No one should be surprised, of course, that the alleged gender authorities are nearly all women, evaluating men’s nature through the prism of the women’s movement for equality.

Women Hate other Women

But what about their gender? Females who maintain that they know more about masculinity than men have little to say regarding women’s issues. Unlike with men, for instance, evidence suggests that females often dislike other women for no logical reason at all.[xi] In fact, some commentators claim an internalized misogyny is the driver behind a hatred for themselves and other women. According to NAIJ.COM editor Nkem Ikeke, “women can’t relate to other women, and they get along better with males.”[xii]

Dr. Seth Myers, writing in Psychology Today, says that this inability extends much deeper when women are competitive: at that point, they will often exhibit snarky and bitchy conduct toward one another.[xiii] Another Psychology Today article theorizes that women are more sensitive to being social outcasts than men, which leads them to deploy backstabbing rumors as a weapon of choice.[xiv] In many workplaces, it is not rare to see women raising petty barbs against other females, mostly behind their backs. It seems they need to hurt other women to feel better about themselves.

Women’s Violence against Women

While there is little doubt that what is on television is often fantasy, the fact that competitive contempt and cattiness toward other females is a staple feature of daytime programming suggests these attributes are more than a figment of somebody’s imagination. During any four-hour watch-a-thon, for example, viewers might see women screaming, yelling, pulling hair, slapping and physically hitting each other. There are also unscripted talk shows where women call each other names or denigrate others’ beauty, intelligence, dress, make-up, weight, personality and affluence. Women, not men, are the propagators of slut-shaming and similar broadsides aimed at lowering somebody’s social standing.

Perhaps another reason why women are inherently more hateful than they claim men are stems from the disturbing fact that 80 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance while more than 10 million suffer from eating disorders.[xv] On the face of it, this would seem to indicate that women have major self-esteem issues and inferiority complexes of all types. While many women find it easy to label men as the haters, perhaps this perspective is merely a reflection of their feelings about themselves?

What is Love?

Sadly, the research and perspectives detailed above can easily leave one feeling cynical. If Dr. Brogaard is correct in the view that men hate women, and if women feel hatred toward themselves and other females, how can love intervene amid all the animosity? How can romance be planted into such a contaminated soil and be expected to grow?

Something is broken. Our modern society somehow misplaced the ancient cultural values that once made a marriage work. Collaboration has been replaced by gendered distrust and rivalry. Today, marriage is dangerous for men, in particular. It is physically and emotionally draining and, at worst, deadly. Instead of enjoying what should be an ongoing positive experience, married couples are required to work on their partnership every day,[xvi] as well as spend extra time on each other’s priorities.[xvii]

But where does this leave them? In many instances, both sides are miserable. Research indicates that most married couples argue, on average, seven times a day, amounting to 2,455 arguments per year.[xviii] Almost 50% of marriages fail; in those instances where partners remain together, nearly 60% are unhappy.[xix] Every minute, 20 people who “are in love” injure one another through physical domestic violence.[xx] And quietly, married men are committing suicide from endless couples bickering.[xxi]

This is what Americans call “love, marriage, and happiness.” Today, millions of unhappy couples are expending an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to keep things together. Their relationship is like another job, where they hang on in the hope of maintaining scarcely civilized households. Unfortunately, the fallout from these strains doesn’t just affect them; their children and the generations that follow will be greatly harmed if things carry on as they are.

Conclusion

Clearly, society is ripe for innovative approaches that help people engage with and love each other in healthier ways. Meanwhile, there is a growing understanding that bachelorhood is not a matter of hate, but an escape hatch from endless rounds of conflict and societal pressures fueled mostly by women’s movements. Men don’t want a domestic relationship of violence. Instead, they see a beacon in the darkness, directing them to a more favorable option: living a single life. As bachelors, men can assemble and mold the best of all worldly delights, cherry-picking life, and social elements. Men are shaping an individually tailored and exceptional lifestyle, and experiencing uninhibited or unhindered freedom.

If Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) is seen by some as a hate group, so be it. In reality, it is freeing men from socialized expectations that invariably lead to schisms and unhappiness, and while also saving them from future disasters. It is obvious why men enjoy spreading MGTOW stories and understandings of toxic relationships: they are the path to the world’s oyster of independence, happiness, and personal pleasure.

*****

[i] http://nypost.com/2015/08/08/trump-megyn-kelly-had-blood-coming-out-of-her-wherever/

[ii] http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/03/donald_trump_has_one_core_philosophy_misogyny.html

[iii] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/08/donald-trump-s-gross-history-of-misogyny-from-rosie-o-donnell-to-megyn-kelly.html

[iv] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny

[v] ibid.

[vi] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/04/men-are-harassed-more-than-women-online.html

[vii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manosphere

[viii] https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mysteries-love/201502/12-ways-spot-misogynist

[ix] http://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/11/05/it-is-all-men-our-culture-of-predatory-misogyny/

[x] http://theodysseyonline.com/creighton/maybe-all-men-misogynists/112205

[xii] https://www.naij.com/428639-true-talk-four-reasons-women-hate-each-other.html