A female equivalent for misogyny?

A friend from university rang me earlier and asked me if there was a female equivalent for 'misogynist'. The best we could come up with (with a combined 14 years of study at university, much of which was the study of gender-based issues!) was 'man-hater'.

So I looked it up online. First stop, Wikipedia:

Misogyny is hatred or strong prejudice against women; an antonym of philogyny. Those holding misogynistic beliefs can be of either sex.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misogyny)

I ended up on AskOxford.com (which looks like it might be a useful new resource?):

The equivalent is misandrist (a person who hates persons of the male sex), a rare word but seemingly much sought-after. The corresponding noun for the attitude is misandry.

(http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwords/misogynist?view=uk)


I wonder why it is 'much sought-after'? (I will have to ask Izzie why she wanted to know, she didn't have time to say when she rang me.) Sought after by men hoping to redress the balance of accusation, or women advocating the practice (hoping to redress the balance of power)? Or sought after because misandry is in fact increasing in society? Does expressing the belief that all men are, erm ... idiots (substitute your preferred word!), make a woman a misandrist? As men retain the greatest portion of power in our society, does it even matter? Surely misogyny goes beyond the emotion of hatred and is more about the desire for control, and the action of power. Can misandry ever really be the female equivalent of misogyny?

I like the word 'misandrist' because it redefines the widely-accepted notion of 'feminist' as a female equivalent of 'misogynist'. Feminists have so often been referred to as "man-hating" when in fact they are the supporters of feminism, which is simply 'the belief in the principle that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men'. (Oxford Dictionary) Yes, feminists often express this belief in terms of anger at the injustice of inequality (and are therefore "neurotic" or "unbalanced"!) but anger is very different to hatred.

A feminist is not necessarily a misandrist. And a misandrist is not necessarily a feminist.

It's very interesting to see that Wikipedia suggests misogynists 'can be of either sex'. I hadn't really thought about this. But I have met women who are misogynists. And men who are misandrists. Although I wouldn't say they expressed 'hatred' but rather 'scorn' or 'contempt'.

Is it really possible to hate your own sex?

It seems a bizarre notion, but than so is misanthropy!

Hmmmm. Interesting ... I think I'll have to think about this some more, but now am going to get back to my much neglected Student Mum blog!

So easily distracted ...