How Harmful Is Misogyny To The Society

 

For hundreds of years, the world has grown and changed in so many ways; economically, socially, psychologically, etc. We have surpassed many of the predictions made by economists and environmentalists. We have evolved tremendously, and it is truly a wonder to witness this growth continue to manifest in every aspect of our lives and society. However, one thing that remains buried deep in our ideologies and cultures-a pattern that flowed through the history of mankind-and has refused to release its grasp is the systematic oppression of women all over the world.

Kate Manne in her book Down Girl: the logic of misogyny, explains misogyny to be "social systems or environments where women face hostility and hatred because they’re women in a man's world — a historical patriarchy." Before the first wave of feminism took place in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women were deemed as people who were incapable of existing on their own. Their lives and decisions were entrusted to the hands of their male guardians. They were expected to be caretakers and mothers, nothing more nothing less. Women weren't allowed to go to school to get educated or learn skills that may prove to earn them money or even allowed to work in corporate workplaces.

Menial jobs that went unpaid were all they were permitted to do. They were denied all these jobs because they weren't considered to have rights or the mental capacity to be as intellectual as their male counterparts. It was during this time that women started to protest. They were more than what their bodies were capable of doing. They were more than mothers who only had to birth children and raise them. They were people too and they deserved access to all the rights men had. The right to be their person, the right to vote, the right to work and earn money. This was why the feminist movement started. The fight to erase all the years of systematic oppression against women.

They assumed that women wanted to start working now. Which was not true. Women have always worked. House Chores, child-raising, etc. Women wanted to change jobs. They wanted to go to the labor market and take payment for their labor. After a while, after protests that went on for years and years, women were allowed to exist and function as full members of society. However, the years of oppression towards women remained. Many people still thought that women were not capable of existing without these systems in place. They were unable to understand why women wanted out of these systems when they were out there to 'protect' them.

It is hundreds of years ago that the feminist movement started to fight against sexism and misogyny. One would think that these things would have become extinct and a thing of the past. This is not the case. Misogyny is still widespread social conditioning.

How does misogyny harm society?

A study by the United Nations has shown that 90% of people, both men and women are prejudiced against women. The system of sexism and misogyny is not just on the surface anymore. It has dug its root into most people, into our thoughts, our cultures, our lives, and even women who are expected to fight for their rights to be seen as people and not as second-class citizens are lax about the freedom that they go ahead to become prejudiced against women who want better. Is this in any way their fault? Not entirely. Misogyny has reinforced that the women who fight against oppression are singled out and isolated. They're shown as rebels who cannot be silent.

This goes a long way in shaping the structures of society. Women are paid less than men for the same work they do. Women are seen as nurturers and the bulk of raising children and at the same time, caretaking the house falls solely on their shoulders. It has been told to men for centuries that women were better at being parents and so men fell back and allowed women to carry the bulk of a load of child-raising. Even in a modern society where women work and provide income for their families, they're still expected to carry the bulk of chores and child-raising alone. Misogyny is harmful to not only women but men too. It reinforces harmful stereotypes that have been proved to be baseless and without significance. It allows people to get away with hurting women and cheating and abusing women. It allows for contempt and hatred to grow and foster.

How can we do better as a society?

The most successful and functional societies in the world are the ones where women are allowed to thrive and grow. It is important to understand that women are as deserving of education as are men. The basis of everyone's first knowledge is the family. All the values and manners are learned at this intimate level. To teach children that men and women deserve equal opportunities is to raise adults that do not discriminate. The notion that education is wasted on women or a waste of money should be eradicated as it is false. When women are allowed to learn and allowed to learn, work and function without any societal barriers, the growth of a community improves tremendously.

Better working conditions, the absence of prejudice or discrimination, or sexism should be strived for. Women are given little time to recover from childbirth. Better maternity support should be pushed for and encouraged. It is simply not enough to work. What is enough is a working environment that encourages growth and development for all its members.

Women are people. Women deserve the right to live without fear. Women deserve to have access to everything they need to thrive.

In conclusion, I'd like to quote this paragraph from Katrine Marcal's book: Who cooked Adam Smith's dinner? "We assume that biological facts carry political conclusions, rules as impossible to rebel against as nature itself. The fact that there are biological differences between men and women is seen to justify a certain kind of politics, and it is thought that the only way to reject this kind of politics is to deny that there are biological differences. But it isn’t a question of biological differences. The question is what conclusions do we draw from them? That the woman bears the child means that the woman bears the child. Not that she should stay home and nurse it until it starts college. That the woman’s cocktail of hormones contains more estrogen means that the woman’s cocktail of hormones contains more estrogen. Not that she shouldn’t teach mathematics. That only the woman has a body part with the sole purpose of giving her pleasure means that only the woman has a body part with the sole purpose of giving her pleasure. Not that she doesn’t belong on a board of directors."

~ By Aliyah Maruf

Also read, Indian Women are Fabricated to accept Disrespect from Men: Change my mind!