Misogyny Persists
Misogyny, in a small description, is hatred, mockery and prejudice against women. It is often shown through attitudes, behaviors, and practices that maintain gender-based inequality and violence. Despite the important moves made in advancing gender equality and the rights of women, misogyny continues to thrive in many societies. In fact, one of the challenges of addressing misogyny is that it is often overlooked or normalized by society.
Misogyny is often deeply carved in cultural and social norms. These norms dictate how people should behave, what roles they should play, and how they should relate to each other. In many societies, women are expected to be submissive, passive, and humble to men. They are often judged based on their appearance, whether they are married or not, and fertility. These thoughts and beliefs keep up gender-based intolerance and violence against women. These cultural and social norms are often so deeply ingrained in society that they are taken for granted and are normalized.
Media often reinforces and normalizes misogynistic attitudes and behaviors. Media plays a key role in shaping people's perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about women. Much of the media projects harmful stereotypes and objectifies women. Including, women are often depicted as sexual depictions, and their worth is often based on their physical appearance. This normalizes the objectification and sexualization of women, which perpetuates gender-based discrimination.
Many people overlook or excuse misogynistic attitudes and behaviors because of their gender or social status. Men, in particular are often given a pass when it comes to their sexist attitudes. They are often seen as simply "being men" or "just joking," and their actions are therefore normalized. With a very common saying such as “boys will be boys”. Wealthy and “leader like” individuals often get away with misogynistic attitudes and behaviors because they have the resources and influence to do so. This pushes the view that misogyny is acceptable, particularly for those in positions of power.
Misogyny is often dismissed as a women's issue rather than a societal issue. This belittles the severity of misogyny and absolves men and society at large from taking responsibility for addressing it. In reality, misogyny is a societal issue that affects everyone. It continues gender-based inequality and violence, which ultimately harms both men and women.
Society often overlooks and normalizes misogynistic tendencies and views. To address misogyny, we need to break from cultural and social norms that create misogynistic ideas. We also need to hold the media accountable for pushing harmful stereotypes and objectification of women. We need to recognize that misogyny is a societal issue that affects everyone and that addressing it requires everyone to understand that it’s not about who’s better, who has more power, it’s simply just about being equal.
