Feminism Verses Misandry

Abstract
Article 14 of the Human Rights and Discrimination Act [7] (1998) states that The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status. Despite this discrimination still happens. From the newspapers we read at breakfast to the video games we allow our children to play; we cannot escape its influence. However, in recent years there has been a rise in sexism not by men but by women. The aim of this project is to explore the background of feminism, the development of misandry, the social impact of sexism and what can be possibly done to combat the problem.

By Dawn Latore

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Introduction
I come from a long line of both radical thinkers[8] and traditionalists.[9] My mothers side of the family are all open minded and for equal rights, despite the trials we have been through, however, my fathers side of the family have a very closed minded, very traditional view on things and find prejudice and discrimination a joke. Yet despite my upbringing I have not become attached to traditional ideas and prejudice like my brother. My beliefs are egalitarian[10] but with an understanding of traditional ideas. I also find myself enjoying reading about different philosophies because they always give you different things to consider and are even reverent now.

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This area is of interest to me because I have seen prejudice and discrimination toward all genders and can see each argument and understand the positives and negatives behind them. I myself have also experienced prejudice and discrimination due to my gender, sexuality and because of my mental health issues. Because of this I can see all sides and I am intrigued by what causes people to behave in such a manner and I often wonder just how far equality can go before it becomes unfair to others or reaches limits because of how we are biologically programed. However, in recent years feminism has become of interest to me because of its growing popularity and the misconceptions a lot of people have towards it.

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The History of Feminism

In 1887 the Utopian[11] Socialist and French philosopher, Charles Fourier, argued the radical notion that women were individuals and should enjoy the same rights that men did. He termed this philosophy feminism. In his life time Fourier did not see the results of his argument, however, todays world has been influenced by many of his philosophies; most notably feminism.

Since Fouriers passing female rights have come a long way. Women now enjoy some of the rights men have for centuries. For example; Women can now vote, have career roles other than nurse or teacher and can drive. They also have managed to campaign for laws to come in to help protect their health and safety. This includes acts that make it illegal and a punishable offence for a male to abuse his wife and for a woman to abort and unwanted child.

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Over the years women have campaigned for equal rights and in the west females are, for the most part, equal, give or take a few incidences, whereas in the East there are still injustices taking place. As a result it is beginning to show people the real face of feminism that we ourselves once saw. In places like Delhi both men and women are campaigning for more fair treatment towards women when dealing with rape and sexual harassment, which while getting there, is still proving to be an uphill struggle; especially when there is corruption in authority and politics. However that does not stop the west being reminded of how we once were and feel a sense of empathy towards the women who are being mistreated in other countries.

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What is Misandry?
According to the Oxford dictionary Misandry is the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against men.

The word Misandry has been around since 1871 but has only become more commonly used in the 19th century, when the feminist movement became more active in their campaign for equal rights and as attitudes towards feminism have changed.

Misandry developed from Fouriers ideas of female freedom and backs up Muzafer Sherifs(1979) theory on how prejudice and discrimination develop; it is known as Realistic Conflict Theory.[12] Sherif proposed that intergroup conflict (i.e. conflict between groups) occurs when two groups are in competition for limited resources. This theory is supported by evidence from a famous study investigating group conflict: The Robbers Cave[13] (Sherif, 1954, 1961). Sherif's argument is one of the
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major arguments that attempts to explain how prejudice and discrimination forms and still highly debated to this day, alongside other theories such as Henri Tajfel's Social Identify Theory.[14]

Antony Synnott (2010) suggests misandry is not just restricted to women but men are also guilty of misandry as well. In his article Why Some People Have Issues With Men: Misandry. He offers several theories on what has caused misandry to rise in recent years and how deeply it is integrated into our society. In total he gives twelve different possible explanations of why misandry occurs. He concludes that misandry is everywhere and yet nothing is done to combat it.

First we must acknowledge that misandry is party reality-based to the degree that it is in part a reaction to misogyny, and to the real or perceived oppression of women by men. Its Newtonian physics and the Marist dialectic: the harder you hit your head against the wall, the harder it hits you back. Misogyny generates misandry. - Antony Synnott 2010 Why Some
People Have Issues With Men: Misandry.

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The Social Effects of Misandry

As we have entered the age of the internet the feminist movement has grown stronger than it originally was, with people now being able to reach out to each other no matter where they are in the world and now being able to share experiences and arrange more rallies. However, this has also exposed misandrists more than before and for the first time has begun to give us some idea of how feminism has changed from where it once was.

In Zoe Farrs (20paper called Ethnography; study of sexist attitudes among students she explores the evolution of sexism against both males and females and investigates the roles both play when committing this form of prejudice and discrimination and how social attitudes have changed in this area. Due to the ethical issue surrounding how she gathered the information this study cannot be submitted properly, which she acknowledges. However she does give seven examples of observations she made for her study to back up her hypothesis. The study showed that men are more playful with their sexism now compared to how they were before;

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however, women get away with sexism, borderline misandry and even show misogyny towards their own gender. One of the observations that showed how feminism and sexism has changed was observation five in which she went out with her friends and both groups showed sexist attitudes. The males were more subtle about it where her female friends were not. Her female friends sexually harassed an unknown male to the point where they earned not just his scorn but his friends too. One of her friends also did not show gratitude when one of her male friends gave up his coat for her because she was cold.

Overall the study showed that the attitudes of women had changed because of how the feminist movement has affected todays world and because of the attitudes that have changed with it. As a result both misogyny and misandry are rife and provoke each other, however, only males get punished for sexism and it would seem sexism by a female is socially acceptable and rarely punished unless severe enough.

With this study and Synnotts theories in mind it does indeed show how much attitudes have changed with the times and the mixed messages sociality gives genders on both sides. This in turn just creates friction on both sides of the argument and gives more reason for each side to feel hostile towards one another. As a result our current sociality has created a generation of people who commit sexual discrimination on almost an instinctive level without thinking of the impact or consequences such attitudes cause to the people around them, until its already happened.

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Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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What can be done about misandry?

If we examine the current acts and laws surrounding sexism; all assume the perpetrator[15] is male which is where part of the problem lies. The other problem is the attitude both genders project towards the subject of misandry. Not many know of the term and therefore claim all females who are sexist as lesbians or a feminist, which is incorrect and just creates more friction and issues for the LGBT community.

If we look at this objectively[16] then the most obvious and logical step that could be taken is to re-evaluate our current system and alter it to reflect the change in our sociality. While women are still seen as physically weak they still can be perpetrators of the same crimes as males are. Rape for example is typically seen as crime committed by males due to how it has been portrayed in the media for over fifty years. In fact males overall have been demonised in the media for so long it makes females naturally be wary of them and their intentions, therefore it is only human nature to respond to such stimuli.

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It is only in the last few years that we have seen females being punished for rape and sexism and even when they are it hard to prove carries a lesser punishment and is more often than not laughed at, due to the social attitudes surrounding male victims. This was perfectly displayed when at the beginning of my Pre-Access course our Sociology tutor (Rebecca) asked us to role-play discrimination in a workplace environment:

Three classmates decided to role-play sexual harassment. Kirsty played the manager, Martin played the victim and Jody played the work colleague who had committed the assault. Martin went to his manager and made a complaint against Jody, who had been pinching his bum and making him feel uncomfortable with her flirtation on a daily bases. Soon as he reported it the manager laughed in his face about it, which obviously upset him. The manager then told Martin that she would speak with his colleague about it and that she would be disciplined appropriately. After Martin left Jody was summoned to the managers office in which they spoke about the offence. Jody shrugged it off and began joking around with the manager about it. The manager responded positively and joined in but told Jody simply not to do it again or to be more careful. No further action was taken.

The whole time the role-play was happening the class was giggling about it, including the tutor. This to me reflects perfectly the social attitude of male victims. Upon group reflection we all acknowledged it does happen and how serious the problem was, however, for unknown reasons we all (both genders) just found a male being humiliated as such amusing.

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Once again I will point out that; if we were to objectively look at the social attitudes of both genders towards the victims of sexual discrimination and what could be done to resolve the current issues. It could be argued that ideally better education about prejudice and discrimination could help combat the problem, but when the education should start is a debate worth musing over. However, some may argue that we already do start education in primary schools, but many may disagree with this opinion and will argue that this is where, in part, we learn the behaviour and that more effort is needed to combat the problem at this stage before children reach secondary school; which is where prejudice and discrimination is at its peak and makes its biggest impact before we leave school on the path to adulthood.

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Conclusion
Although one of the sources I have used for this assignment can be considered unreliable due to the fact it breaks the British Psychological Societys Code of Ethics And Conduct[17] I feel the study backed up some of the views I have already formed when it comes to sexism, due to the fact I have also observed similar situations in my lifetime in different social circles.

I believe misandry has been born from the fact that as women gain more rights males feel threatened by their counterparts and therefore females are beginning to fight back with the behaviour learned from the world around them, much like a child copying fighting moves from a telly vision show when a bully tries to beat them up. So as Synnott (2010) said. Misogyny generates Misandry But this that does not excuse the fact females have begun to exhibit the same behaviour patterns in response to what they are greeted with every day.

Some people do not like change as history has proved time and time again and as a result response to change is discrimination which can and does escalate and affect
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the world around us more than we realise unless we take a step back. Unfortunately in trying to come closer towards equality it has in fact created a gender war that no one seems to notice until there are casualties from either side.

As a female I find it disgraceful that such behaviour from both genders has caused feminists to refer to their beliefs as The F word[18] because of the negativity that has slowly been associated with its name. As far as I have seen no actual feminists have done anything wrong unless you count campaigning for more equality for women. If anything I have seen misandrists claiming to be feminists commit discrimination towards males simply because society allows it and has come to believe it is the typical behaviour of feminists. I believe misandrists need to re-examine their stance and actually look at the damage they are doing with their behaviour instead of encouraging the gap between our genders. They are giving females a bad name and making it harder for us to have equal rights while also giving misogynists an excuse to carry on their behaviour, which is just provoking the cycle of hate to carry on.

This is my opinion at present but I would be willing to review it under supervision and I would be willing to review the ethical considerations raised with an appointed supervisor. This is something I would greatly look forward to in my professional and personal development.

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Glossary
[1] Index - A guild to specific information contained in a book.

[2] Glossary - Brief terminology used in a particular field. It is usually found at the back of a book.

[3] Reference - Quoting information that is someone elses and not your own to back up what is being said in your argument. And is evidence that you have not plagiarised someone elses work.

[4] Bibliography - Quoting the location of the sources /evidence that you have used in your work. Usually found at the back of a book or as the last page of your course work.

[5] Appendices Collection of information used in project.

[6] Abstract - A summary of information that highlights the key feature and idea in the main body of the work.

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[7] Human Rights Act A law that a collective of countries came to agreement over the rights everyone is entitled to no matter where they are in the world.

[8] Radical thinker/s One who has thoughts and opinions that are considered against the general populations consensus/social norms on a range of beliefs or what is considered socially acceptable. Radical thinkers tend to think outside the box on issues.

[9] Traditionalist/s One who believe in values that have been set as socially acceptable and typical roles for many generations.

[10] Egalitarian One who believes in Fouriers argument of equality; that everyone has the right to be equal in terms of rights regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, race or social standing.

[11] Utopian One who believes in a perfect or ideal existence. They are often referred to as social idealists.

[12] Realistic Conflict Theory - Sherif proposed that intergroup conflict (i.e. conflict between groups) occurs when two groups are in competition for limited resources. This one of the

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[13] The Robbers Cave Experiment So called because of where the experiment took place. In this study the participants were well-adjusted boys, not street gang members and they were put in a situation where they would be in conditions which would trigger group competition. The study clearly showed that conflict between groups can trigger prejudice attitudes and discriminatory behaviour. This experiment confirmed Sherif's realistic conflict theory.

[14] Social Identity Theory The central hypothesis of social identity theory is that group members of an in-group will seek to find negative aspects of an out-group, thus enhancing their self-image. Henri Tajfel proposed that stereotyping (i.e. putting people into groups and categories) is based on a normal cognitive process: the tendency to group things together. When we do this we tend to exaggerate the differences between groups and similarities of things in the same group.

[15] Perpetrator A person who has committed a crime.

[16] Objectively Without bias.

[17] The British Psychological Societys Code of Ethics and Conduct A society set up to make sure that everyone in the psychological field practices ethically and promotes good practice for public good. All who have professions and study in this area must abide by its code.

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[18] The F Word Another term for Feminism.

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References
Farr Z, Ethnography; a study of sexist attitudes among students University of Essex [Online] Pg 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Appendix 3-4 Available from http://www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/documents/pdf/ug_journal/vol7/2012SC203_ZoeFa rr_FINAL.pdf [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Synnott A, (2010,10, 6) Why Some People Have Issues With Men: Misandry Psychology Today [Online] Pg 1 - 4 Available from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-men/201010/why-some-peoplehave-issues-men-misandry [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Oxford University Press (2013) Definition of misandry Oxford Dictionaries [Online] Available from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/misandry [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Ethics Committee of the British Psychological Society, (Aug 2009) Code of Ethics and Conduct The British Psychological Society [Online] Pg 1 - 26 Available from http://www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/code_of_ethics_and_conduct.pdf [Accessed 27/06/2013]

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A The National Archives Prohibition of discrimination Article 14 legislation.gov.uk [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/part/I/chapter/12 [Accessed 19/06/2013]

Kreis S, (Aug 03 2009) Lecture 21 The Utopian Socialists: Charles Fourier (1) The History Guide [Online] pg 5 Available from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture21a.html [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Vlach M, (2012) Feminism Theological Studies [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/philosophy-dictionary/121-feminism [Accessed 21/06/2013]

McLeod S (2008) Robbers Cave SimplyPsychology [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://www.simplypsychology.org/robbers-cave.html [Accessed 20/06/2013]

McLeod S (2008) Social Identity Theory SimplyPsychology [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html [Accessed 20/06/2013]

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Bibliography
Most images from Google Images [Accessed 10/06/2013]

One image from imgur.com Available from http://www.imgur.com/a/s0LCU/layout/blog [Accessed 24/06/1013]

Murrary J, (2011-03-03) 20th Century Britain: The Womans Hour BBC History [Online] Pg 1-4 Available from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/jmurrary_01.shtml [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Farr Z, Ethnography; a study of sexist attitudes among students University of Essex [Online] Pg 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, Appendix 3-4 Available from http://www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/documents/pdf/ug_journal/vol7/2012SC203_ZoeFa rr_FINAL.pdf [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Synnott A, (2010,10, 6) Why Some People Have Issues With Men: Misandry Psychology Today [Online] Pg 1, 2, 3, 4 Available from
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/rethinking-men/201010/why-some-people-have-issuesmen-misandry [Accessed 21/06/2013]

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Sex role stereotyping Pg 25, 26, 28. [Accessed from Sociology tutor Rebecca]

Social Developments BBC GCSE Bitesize Social Developments [Online] Pg 5 [Accessed 14/01/2013]

Burke J, (2012-12-19) Delhi bus gang rape: What is going wrong with our society? theguardian [Online] Pg 1-2 Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/19/delhi-bus-gang-rape [Accesed 25/06/2012]

Oxford University Press (2013) Definition of misandry Oxford Dictionaries [Online] Available from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/misandry [Accessed 21/06/2013]

A The National Archives (1998) Prohibition of discrimination Article 14 legislation.gov.uk [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1/part/I/chapter/12 [Accessed 19/06/2013]

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Ethics Committee of the British Psychological Society, (Aug 2009) Code of Ethics and Conduct The British Psychological Society [Online] Pg 1 - 26 Available from http://www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/code_of_ethics_and_conduct.pdf [Accessed 27/06/2013]

Vlach M, (2012) Feminism Theological Studies [Online] Pg 1 Available from http://theologicalstudies.org/resource-library/philosophy-dictionary/121-feminism [Accessed 21/06/2013]

Kreis S, (Aug 03 2009) Lecture 21 The Utopian Socialists: Charles Fourier (1) The History Guide [Online] pg 5 Available from http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/lecture21a.html [Accessed 21/06/2013]

McLeod S (2008) Robbers Cave SimplyPsychology [Online] Pg 1-2 Available from http://www.simplypsychology.org/robbers-cave.html [Accessed 27/06/2013]

McLeod S (2008) Social Identity Theory SimplyPsychology [Online] Pg 1- 2 Available from http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html [Accessed 27/06/2013]

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Appendices

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