Feminism vs. Misandry

By: Angelique Joy Sanchez Delgado

Published: August 9, 2022

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“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” - Gloria Steinem

Feminism — it is the belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. Feminism fights for not just equality, but also equity. To differentiate these two commonly interchanged terms; “Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities.” Meanwhile, “Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. “ (Juda, 2021). Historically, feminism has evolved from the critical examination of inequality between the sexes to a more nuanced focus on the social and performative constructions of gender and sexuality. The modern-day feminist movement is often confused with Misandry, the hatred of men. The difference between empowering women and discriminating men seems to have become an ever finer line. The viewpoints on Feminism as of more recent years are commonly mistcontsrued with Misandry, a concept which only further hinders us from achieving equality and equity.

With the rise of the internet and social media, many people tend to fall prey to a common misconception of feminism which is that feminists are against men. By feminists jesting that hate men, they are ridiculing the popular misguided notion that feminists are anti-men. They mean to satirize the women who say they are not feminists for the reason that they love men. They put a comical take on these arguments as both are false and misinformed. On social media, certain phrases such as ”Kill All Men”, “Ban Men”, “Fuck the patriarchy”, and “Drink Male Tears” have gained a great deal of attention. While obviously satirical, misandry and cruelty are inherent within these slogans. It is understandable for anyone who is not familiar with the topic to become confounded with these radical misandrist sayings. However, the urge to fight these misconceptions about feminists with humor on the internet is not unreasonable. In actuality, what unfeigned feminists truly hate is not men themselves, rather the patriarchy; the society that systemically oppresses women.

Although satirical, it is very likely that these misandrist views and sayings have stemmed from something very real such as Generational Internalized Misogyny. As children, we are taught that there are “feminine and masculine” matters and that these two are mutually exclusive. Boys like cars and girls like dolls. Men work jobs while women stay at home tending to their children. These stereotypes and gender roles can be traced all the way back in history from the period of hunters and gatherers. At the time, it seemed sensible and it was crucial to the civilization’s survival.

Be that as it may, present society is, fortunately, breaking down the barriers of such primitive mentalities. More and more companies are taking measures to exercise Gender Parity. “52% of them [Bloomberg Companies] require a gender diverse slate of candidates for management positions.” (Ang, 2021). However, unfortunately, this incentive makes it more common for some businesses to succumb to Feminism Washing. “Feminism Washing”, similar to the term “Greenwashing”, is the marketing technique that operates on the fallacious use of good ecological practices in the aim of seeming more honorable and philanthropic, benefitting the image of the company. In this case, they would do so in terms of appearing to practice gender equality in the workplace. For example, imagine if a company set out to hire 50 male and 50 female engineers, a traditionally masculine job, for the sake of being able to say that they are devoted to gender equality. While they were able to achieve Equality in Outcome, that is not exercising feminism and gender equality, because they are merely hiring employees based on their sex, rather than their competence and skills for the job. Instead, what we should strive for is Equality in Opportunity, which is what was lacking in the past. Women were not able to receive the same education as men, limiting their choices and chances to have similar occupations. They often experienced prejudice when attempting to flourish in certain careers. However, there is also the possibility that even if they could be hired for a certain occupation, it does not necessarily mean that they want to.

A survey was conducted in 2005 wherein 50 women were asked whether they would consider a career in construction, another traditionally masculine job. Thirty-six of those questioned answered ‘No’ and when asked to choose three words from a list of 10 to best describe their preconceptions of the industry, 32 answered “hard work”, 33 for “dangerous” and 30 for “macho.” (Building, 2005). The concept of “girly and boyish things” were engraved in childrens’ minds throughout generations. Young girls grow up subconsciously projecting sexist ideas upon themselves and other women. The concept of Misogyny taught us that one sex has to be superior to the other but it has gone to such extremities that it tipped the scale, leading to misandry. This is all the more reason why uplifting and empowering women is important. Educating and encouraging the youth to pursue the topics that they actually enjoy, instead of forcing them to fit into the molds of society’s preconceived notions.

Some may argue that women have been experiencing severe prejudice and discrimination for centuries. After being put on a pedestal, men should, in turn, experience the same in order to achieve equality. However, putting women on that same pedestal while discriminating against men is not feminism. It is not a solution to the problem nor does it help at all in the movement towards achieving equality and equity. Equal suffering is not the same as equal rights. Misogyny does not justify Misandry. Feminism is about eliminating sexism. Misandry goes against the very thing feminism strives for.

Misandry creates a larger divide from the more inclusive, fair, and just world that we are fighting for. It is a form of sexism, a concept fabricated by our patriarchal society; along with Generational Internalized Misogyny. To combat this, educating the youth, empowering women, and taking measures to ensure Equality in Opportunity is an integral parts of the changes necessary for achieving equality. With feminism being such a widespread topic, misinformation and misconceptions are inevitable. Despite these, we must remember that realizing the equality and full humanity of women and men is Feminism.

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References

Ang, J. (2021, January 29). 90 notable companies leading the way to gender parity in 2021. Humanresourcesonline. https://www.humanresourcesonline.net/90-notable-companies-leading-the-way-to-gender-parity-in-2021

Begley, S. (2014, August 12). Ironic Misandry: Why Feminists Pretending to Hate Men Isn’t Funny. Time. https://time.com/3101429/misandry-misandrist-feminist-womenagainstfeminism/

Construction: no place for women! (2005, June 10). Building. https://www.building.co.uk/focus/construction-no-place-for-women/3052199.article

Juda, E. (2021, December 9). Equity vs. Equality: What’s the Difference? | Online Public Health. GW-UMT. https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/

STEM Women. (2021, January 22). Women in STEM | Percentages of Women in STEM Statistics. https://www.stemwomen.com/blog/2021/01/women-in-stem-percentages-of-women-in-stem-statistics