June 2, 2014
Women are acutely aware of misogyny because it can kill them, but it is often difficult for men to see. Many people are simply oblivious to the unending harassment that women face, but this past week in California, it became impossible to ignore. One male’s unchecked self-loathing and hatred of women motivated him to kill six people in an effort to “get even” for being rejected. While extreme, the scenario is more unnerving for women and rarely far from their minds because abusive male behavior against women happens all the time.
Launching from a hashtag that sought to raise awareness of the harassment that women face (#YesAllWomen), Slate writer, Amanda Hess, suggests a few reasons why good men don’t see the perverse, deadly misogyny of aggressive and unbalanced members of their cohort. Among other reasons, the fact is that most men don’t see it unless expressed in its most violent forms. This has to change.
All that is required for the misogynist status quo to continue is for good people to remain clueless about it and do nothing. Ms. Hess doesn’t tell readers how to confront this problem. That is up to us. May we do so unreservedly.
Read the article here.
posted by Corbin Lambeth
