TY - JOUR

T1 - Reclaiming misandry from misogynistic rhetoric

AU - Hedges, Tris

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - In recent years, misogyny has become a central concept in philosophy aswell as an established concept in public discourse and political policy. Butwhere is misogyny’s supposed counterpart, namely, misandry? In thispaper I argue for an ameliorative analysis of "misandry", arguing that itcan be reformulated in an effort to reclaim it from its misogynisticweaponisation. The term "misandry" is used almost exclusively as amisogynistic rhetorical device for attributing unjust anger, hatred, orother similar emotions to a speaker, thereby undermining their epistemicauthority. Rather than dismissing the term as conceptually flawed andpolitically problematic, I argue that we ought to ameliorate misandry toinstead refer to a felt anger, hostility, or fear toward the patriarchalsocial order and its valorisation and/or expression in misogynistic andmachismo behaviour. To support these claims, I begin with a discussionof Kate Manne's analysis of misogyny before reflecting on how this caninform our understanding of misandry. I then demonstrate the variousways in which misandry is rhetorically deployed as a means of silencingspeakers that express dissent against the patriarchy. Following this, Iargue that we should ameliorate the term, not only to undermine thesemisogynistic practices, but also to articulate a legitimate affective andreactive attitude against the patriarchal imposition of a hierarchicalgender binary.

AB - In recent years, misogyny has become a central concept in philosophy aswell as an established concept in public discourse and political policy. Butwhere is misogyny’s supposed counterpart, namely, misandry? In thispaper I argue for an ameliorative analysis of "misandry", arguing that itcan be reformulated in an effort to reclaim it from its misogynisticweaponisation. The term "misandry" is used almost exclusively as amisogynistic rhetorical device for attributing unjust anger, hatred, orother similar emotions to a speaker, thereby undermining their epistemicauthority. Rather than dismissing the term as conceptually flawed andpolitically problematic, I argue that we ought to ameliorate misandry toinstead refer to a felt anger, hostility, or fear toward the patriarchalsocial order and its valorisation and/or expression in misogynistic andmachismo behaviour. To support these claims, I begin with a discussionof Kate Manne's analysis of misogyny before reflecting on how this caninform our understanding of misandry. I then demonstrate the variousways in which misandry is rhetorically deployed as a means of silencingspeakers that express dissent against the patriarchy. Following this, Iargue that we should ameliorate the term, not only to undermine thesemisogynistic practices, but also to articulate a legitimate affective andreactive attitude against the patriarchal imposition of a hierarchicalgender binary.

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/01417789231223202

DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/01417789231223202

M3 - Journal article

VL - 136

SP - 84

EP - 99

JO - Feminist Review

JF - Feminist Review

SN - 0141-7789

IS - 1

ER -