It’s Not Misogyny — It’s Worse than That
Men hating women is a symptom of a deeper problem
The man at the head of Spanish football, Luis Rubiales, kissed a woman player, Jenni Hermoso, against her will. His defense for his act was that the kiss was consensual. The video showed that it wasn’t. The man then claimed he was a victim of “false feminism” and “social assassination.”
How many times has that scenario played out? How often has a man used a woman’s body for his own self-gratification without her consent? How many men, when they were called out for their selfish acts that violated a woman, tried to blame the woman?
Misogyny?
When men act this way, it is often called “misogyny.” “Misogyny” means “hatred of women,” and I know what people are getting at when they call a man a “misogynist,” but it misses something important. Yes, men show disrespect, contempt, even rage toward women. Yes, too many men commit violent acts against women, up to and including murder. Hatred of women is real, but that’s not the core issue. Hear me out.
Hatred of women is a symptom of a deeper problem. The case of the head of Spanish football illustrates this problematic attitude. We need to talk about the reality that rampant abuse of women is still happening, and we need to talk about why it is…
