Wednesday, January 7, 2015

The fallacy of "sexist men only hate women because they can't get one"

A lot of people will say that misogynistic men are only hateful toward women because they can't "get" one, but I think that is largely inaccurate. While it's true that there are some men who can't seem to attract women and become very embittered and angry at the overall female gender in response, there are just as many guys who are romantically unlucky but are not at all resentful toward women. And, on the flip side, plenty of misogynistic men do date and have sex with women, but still have contempt for the female gender and deride all the women they sleep with as "whores." (In response to the latter sentiment, I will refer to this old adage: "If you think a woman is dirtier after you've touched her, maybe you should take a look at your own hands.") The fact that there are sexist men who are romantically successful doesn't mean that "women only go for jerks." It means a lot of those guys are probably skillful at hiding their attitudes for a while, or they might tell a woman that she's "not like other girls"--which could sound like a compliment at the surface, but is really an insult directed at women altogether. Additionally, there are also gay and asexual men who hold misogynistic beliefs. Their sexism is not due to an inability to attract women, as that wouldn't bother them for obvious reasons. And when people claim that misogynists only devalue women because they can't get a girlfriend or hook up with anyone, that is a way of blaming women for misogyny. Whether or not it's intended as blame, that's how it comes across. It's a way of saying that anti-female attitudes wouldn't exist if we'd just give in and date/marry/have sex with the people who hate us--which is a terrible expectation on more levels than I can even begin to describe.