Misogyny: hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women.

You don’t think about it, you never do. The subtle little ways that they let you know that they hate you. You accept it as normal, the status quo; it’s so much a part of your every day life that you simply don’t see it.

Except when you do.

And then you struggle with yourself. Do you call it out? Or do you keep silent? If you call it out, you become one of them, those women, the ones who hate men and just can’t take a joke.

Because, really, it’s funny. You just can’t see the humor because you are so damaged, so broken, that you just take it all too seriously.

Sort of like you don’t laugh at the gay jokes, the black jokes, the hispanic jokes, the blonde jokes. You, dear, are way too uptight and just looking for a fight. Now what say you run off to the kitchen and make me a sammich? I mean, seriously, the hell is wrong with you?

So maybe you keep silent. Maybe you smile, give a little giggle, and think to yourself that at least they weren’t talking about you. You weren’t the slut in the joke, you weren’t the dumb blonde, you weren’t the stupid female driver.

Except…

You are.

One wrong step in the wrong place, one slip of the steering wheel, and you are them. All of them, all rolled into one. There is nothing that will save you from the brutal onslaught of misogyny.

We know it, we all know it. We were raised in it, live in it, and we damn well know it. But somehow, some way, we keep telling ourselves that it doesn’t apply to us, isn’t about us.

So we tell ourselves the lie that our grandmother’s grandmothers told them: they just can’t help themselves. They are, after all, just men. They have no control. They are, after all, just animals.

…

And fuck that.

The concept that women are less, and men are more, based upon genitalia astounds me. Men are expected to be nothing more than brutish animals, seeking their next conquest. Women are expected to be perfect, home and waiting, for the brute to arrive and conquer.

We are not the enemy.

Misogynistic concepts fueled by a patriarchal society are.

Too bad this guy didn’t know and didn’t care.  He killed because he hated women, even when he moaned and complained that they wouldn’t pay attention to him.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 2:55 pm and is filed under Navel Gazing and Random Rambling, Ranting and Venting, Women's Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.