>he phenomenon of misandry remains a relatively underexplored and insufficiently acknowledged facet of the researched digital landscape.
This is intentional. It's more than 'enabling' or 'normalization' it's attempting to switch the narrative or move the window.
The prevailing belief is that only possible for men to discriminate against women. Systemic sexism etc. 75% of psychologists are women or public administration is 80% women. You'll never in a million years hear about any program to get more men into women dominated industries.
The rules, especially on reddit, are thus enforced as unequally. Misandry is more than enabled, it's boosted.
It's part of a wider pattern. Reddit banned a whole load of radical feminist subs and refused to remove the extreme misogynist ones that promote sexual violence like r/DykeConversion and r/DegradingHoles.
I'm pretty sure i remember a bunch of misogynist ones that disappeared before the most recent IPO, there was some people talking about it, but I don't remember the names because its subreddits I don't go to.
As usual, the situation is not that black and white. Plenty of grey to be found here.
It is undeniably true that women were and still are oppressed by social constructs designed and enforced by men and statistics show that equality hasn't been reached yet.
Improvement definitely has been made. The difficulty here is that it takes a long time - sometimes a full generation - before the full results of what's done become visible. Meanwhile, you can only guess at what's going to happen. Plus it's a dynamic environment with a strong reactionary push so it's easy to overcorrect.
Misandry definitely is an issue at the margin of the fight. It's easier to equally hate everyone you associate with the issue that work to build something better together in an environment which was and might still be stacked against you. Plus, there might actually be a need for extreme contestation in that it frankly pushes the boundaries.
What would be regretable is if it became the only form of feminism but that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
I was rolling my eyes when the paper started with the Webster’s dictionary definitions, but there were some new ideas in there. For example, men are more likely to be victims of online harassment. I’d have bet my house it was the opposite.
Next I’d like to see a study on why there’s so little research on misandry. That would be a brave paper to publish.
Women naturally "longhouse" when men let them (and the majority will in an egalitarian social regime.) I've watched it happen to other people and it's happened to me too. Online communities are absolutely perfect for this. I think this is why most cultures didn't allow women to be leaders.
For anyone else confused about a reference to indigenous dwellings:
"[it’s] a slang expression and a metaphorical concept popularized among the far-right and alt-right used to refer to a matriarchal society that is distinguished by suppressing non-conformity by canceling individuals..." [0]
The source of that nugget of knowledge, goes on to tell its slang origins:
"In 2018, far-right Internet personality and writer Bronze Age Pervert published the book Bronze Age Mindset, which contained criticisms of modern society. In the book, Bronze Age Pervert compares the modern leftist males to the dwellers of the longhouse, ‘browbeaten and ruled by obese mammies who instilled in them socialism and feminism’"
Guess now I know... (and knowing is half the battle!)
I know some women that have some issues with men in general, largely and understandably from childhood abuse.
They express this though with dissociation from men when possible.
They aren't going to harass men online, quite the opposite.
It just seems like misogyny is vastly easier to study than misandry. These concepts are so asymetric that I am not sure misandry is even a good characterization of the process.
Reddit specifically has many subreddits that openly dehumanise men and act as if they are lesser creatures. There is a sort of original sin going on, where men are considered evil by birth for no other reason than their gender.
This bio-essentialism we see where we say men are born evil and this sort of original sin mentality is actually a soft implementation of patriarchy attitudes, in my mind.
There's a very small hop between "gender is in blood" to anti-trans mentality, gender roles, toxic masculinity, etc.
Really when we say men are born evil we denounce the idea of gender being socially constructed, and how we socialize men. We essentially let men, and those who raise them, completely off the hook. We ignore rape culture, we ignore toxic masculinity ingrained in boys, we ignore neglect of emotional education. Which are all very important.
In actuality, almost nobody is born bad. We socialize them in their communities in families to express that behavior. Which means we can chip away at it, slowly over time. Which we've already done to a large degree - men are so much more progressive today. Things that were once normal and expected, like domestic violence, are now denounced and demonized as they should be. We haven't fixed anything completely, and likely never will, but that shouldn't stop us from making improvements.
Humankind, like the half full/empty glass, is both amazing and shitty, so no wonder these communities exist, because for the same reason as the glass, they are both right.
They would also be right if they were upset that gravity don't let them fly, but it would be a waste of time.
20 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 50.5 ms ] threadThis is intentional. It's more than 'enabling' or 'normalization' it's attempting to switch the narrative or move the window.
The prevailing belief is that only possible for men to discriminate against women. Systemic sexism etc. 75% of psychologists are women or public administration is 80% women. You'll never in a million years hear about any program to get more men into women dominated industries.
The rules, especially on reddit, are thus enforced as unequally. Misandry is more than enabled, it's boosted.
One of the subreddits claimed by this paper to be "misandric" was banned by Reddit. That's the opposite of boosting.
It is undeniably true that women were and still are oppressed by social constructs designed and enforced by men and statistics show that equality hasn't been reached yet.
Improvement definitely has been made. The difficulty here is that it takes a long time - sometimes a full generation - before the full results of what's done become visible. Meanwhile, you can only guess at what's going to happen. Plus it's a dynamic environment with a strong reactionary push so it's easy to overcorrect.
Misandry definitely is an issue at the margin of the fight. It's easier to equally hate everyone you associate with the issue that work to build something better together in an environment which was and might still be stacked against you. Plus, there might actually be a need for extreme contestation in that it frankly pushes the boundaries.
What would be regretable is if it became the only form of feminism but that doesn't seem to be the case at all.
Next I’d like to see a study on why there’s so little research on misandry. That would be a brave paper to publish.
For anyone else confused about a reference to indigenous dwellings:
"[it’s] a slang expression and a metaphorical concept popularized among the far-right and alt-right used to refer to a matriarchal society that is distinguished by suppressing non-conformity by canceling individuals..." [0]
The source of that nugget of knowledge, goes on to tell its slang origins:
"In 2018, far-right Internet personality and writer Bronze Age Pervert published the book Bronze Age Mindset, which contained criticisms of modern society. In the book, Bronze Age Pervert compares the modern leftist males to the dwellers of the longhouse, ‘browbeaten and ruled by obese mammies who instilled in them socialism and feminism’"
Guess now I know... (and knowing is half the battle!)
[0] https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-longhouse
They express this though with dissociation from men when possible.
They aren't going to harass men online, quite the opposite.
It just seems like misogyny is vastly easier to study than misandry. These concepts are so asymetric that I am not sure misandry is even a good characterization of the process.
Example: r/womenarethings
The subreddit description:
> Women are things. Objects.
> They should be enjoyed, used, and they should enjoy this treatment without expecting anything in return.
> Women should not have an identity. They are not "I," "me," or "we." Women are "it," plain and simple.
You won't find any sub describing men like this.
Right at the top I found a message from the moderators: "This is a safe place for women to explore their kinks"
So I can only assume you didn't know what that sub was and just searched for something to justify a belief you already held.
There's a very small hop between "gender is in blood" to anti-trans mentality, gender roles, toxic masculinity, etc.
Really when we say men are born evil we denounce the idea of gender being socially constructed, and how we socialize men. We essentially let men, and those who raise them, completely off the hook. We ignore rape culture, we ignore toxic masculinity ingrained in boys, we ignore neglect of emotional education. Which are all very important.
In actuality, almost nobody is born bad. We socialize them in their communities in families to express that behavior. Which means we can chip away at it, slowly over time. Which we've already done to a large degree - men are so much more progressive today. Things that were once normal and expected, like domestic violence, are now denounced and demonized as they should be. We haven't fixed anything completely, and likely never will, but that shouldn't stop us from making improvements.
They would also be right if they were upset that gravity don't let them fly, but it would be a waste of time.