Feminism vs misandry

The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti- family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians” claimed Pat Robertson, an obviously extreme conservative with very strong opinions. Unfortunately, he has no proof to back his Idea up because even the commonly used dictionary dis-mantles his argument. Feminism and misandry, or man-hating, are very different but are commonly synonymized and generalized for five main reasons.

This occurs so that men and women who dont want to deal with the real problem of sexism can paint one giant picture of radicalism and be done with the issue. According to Sam Killerman, a writer who travels the country speaking out against oppression of any sort, there are five main reasons why so many people believe that feminists are man haters; one of those being generalization. Due to the fact that some individual feminists hate men, people like to assume that all feminists hate men. But “a portion does not equal the whole, even If that portion Is really loud (killerman).

And that’s the thing; theVre not even that loud! Anti-feminists like to, as Sam would say, “cherry pick” quotes and apply them to the whole to make their argument stronger even though It’s an Inaccurate portrayal of what the whole Is actually like. Most feminists would disagree with the statement that they hate men (Killerman). They stand for what feminism stands for; equality for all, no matter your gender. However, In all fairness, It would be a fallacy to say that misandrists dldnt exist, but Lindy West an American author and newspaper editor argues that the innocent become the guilty through self-fulfilling prophecy.

If people keep pinning feminists against men eventually feminists will start hating men (West). The reason being: that is not the truth and the fact that people keep synonymizing misandry with feminism will of course lead the one being accused to hate the accuser, which in this case Is generalized as mem But the hate would be for the sin, not the sinner; feminists hate the lie, not the liar. Unfortunately, as stated previously anti-feminists cherry pick what will make their argument seem the most correct (Killerman).

Killerman seconds West’s self-fulfilling prophecy with the thought that for 200 years e have been spoon fed that feminists hate men so what else are we to believe. This is the second reason feminism and misandry are constantly synonymized. The first feminist to start advocating for equal rights was in the 1 700s but it “didn’t pick up steam” until the late 1800s and the even then the wants of these women hadn’t changed much. They primarily asked for the right to vote, to own property, and to attend college. These “radical demands” were met with labels such as anti-God, antl- family, and of course, anti-men.

And people thought the women were being ridiculous. However, the saying does go that power corrupts and these men in power at the time would do anything to keep It, including falsely classifying an entire demographic (Killerman). And naturally when someone in power claims something it is believed without any further thought as to why this might be true, so feminists galnea tne tltle 0T man naters ana Trom tnat polnt on people nave always synonymized the two. The third reason Sam gives for this misconception goes back to his first point. The accused hating the accuser is why we said women start to hate men, a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But the same goes for the men. When they think there entire gender is being labeled as rapists and evil naturally they are going to start hating the people that think this. (Killerman) Men have been told that all feminists label them as said things so they, not wanting to be grouped into such categories start firing their own missiles of distain and disagreement. Speaking of distain that brings us to Killermans fourth reason why man y people think feminists hate men. Even though feminism believes in equal rights for all ,regardless of their anatomy, most feminists tend to focus on only the issues acing the female population (Killerman).

This made the men feel left out and like their issues weren’t as important as women’s which naturally makes them bitter. Allie Rowbottom who has an undergraduate in sexuality and gender studies examines this issue a bit. She counters that argument with the fact that without the feminist movement nothing would have changed for the men either. “Women would still be in the kitchen, and men would still be on the battlefield. (Mudd)” So feminists continue to get a bad name even though they changing things for both genders, Killerman and Rowbottom agree this is a bit contradictory.

Men unfortunately aren’t the only ones who blow things out of proportion when it comes to feminism. The media and especially people in power (specifically men) like to believe “instead of dealing with inequality and giving up a bit of unearned power, it’s far more fruitful to change the conversation and put the oppressed group on the defensive. (Killerman)” They sensationalize and radicalize what feminists are doing and put the people who support the movement on the defensive so they can make the group seem even more radical. And this doesn’t Just happen with feminism; this happens with other major ssues as well.

Stereotypes exist for everyone no matter your skin color, gender, or sexuality. And unfortunately the people who have the power to change these things would rather sensationalize them than actually solve them. (Killerman) And according to a study on media sensationalism, unless people are educated on the issue they will never really know that there is a problem in the way our news is fed to us. (Reisenwitz) In conclusion, the fact that feminism is constantly synonymized with misandry is a horrible misconception. They are not the same thing, even the dictionary agrees.

The five main reasons this occurs is because of generalization, it’s all people have ever been told, because men hate to be generalized, because men become angry that their issues take a back seat, and because the issues are sensationalized making the supporters seem radical. The only way to change this vicious stereotype is to change the way we think. We need to start holding our powerful people accountable for the things they say and start weeding the truth from the lies. Only then can we work together to create a world where what gender you are or claim to be doesn’t effect the benefits you receive.