"Every time I've found myself lost for words over something in the news this past year-which has happened disconcertingly often-I've returned to the same book for guidance, the philosopher Kate Manne's Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, published in 2017, largely in response to the election of Donald Trump. Misogyny, Manne argues, is often less about hating women outright than about policing and punishing their behavior."
"It can-of course-be an expression of both. "Fucking bitch," a male voice, believed by many to be that of the ICE agent Jonathan Ross, was captured on video saying last week-after Ross had crossed in front of Renee Nicole Good's car; after she'd calmly told him, "I'm not mad at you"; and after he'd then shot her at least three times."
Misogyny often functions less as outright hatred than as a system that polices and punishes women's behavior, enforcing expectations of deference. Women who do not show reverence or compliance to figures of authority can face violence, and their actions or identities are used to justify or excuse that violence. Public commentary frequently reframes victims' behavior—such as calmness, stated pronouns, queerness, or socioeconomic status—as evidence of disrespect or culpability. Such reframing amplifies blame, reinforces patriarchal hierarchies, and legitimizes coercive state practices that deploy fear against marginalized communities.
Read at The Atlantic
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