MISANDRIA: BACKGROUND, CHARACTERISTICS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The misandria is a term used to describe people who have a hatred not justified by men or people of the male sex. Many times the term is used as the masculine equivalent of misogyny (hatred of women). These terms are interchangeable depending on sex, but they are different from feminism.

It is a psychological condition that can present itself in a variety of ways, including sexual discrimination against men, denigration and violence against the male sex, and the treatment of men as if they were objects. It is used broadly to describe unwarranted hatred, fear and anger against men.

Background and history

Misandria is a relative term of misogyny and its use has been around since the 19th century. The original word was coined mainly in France: misandrie. The German translation of this word is literally translated as "I hate men" and has been around since the early 1800s.

The first activist to research this term was Warren Farrell, who wrote a book called The Myth of Men's Power. In this book, he assures that man throughout history has been designated as dispensable in a society. The riskiest jobs are carried out by male members within societies.

Farrell also discusses how women have been the main beneficiaries of this mentality that societies have, since the life expectancy of men has decreased significantly throughout history while that of women has increased, and the opposite has happened with the percentage of suicides in the population.

Other studies

Religious studies experts have also discussed misandry, and comparisons like Farrell's have been made.

The concept is quite common in North American society. Paul Nathason and Katherine Young argue that this same kind of baseless hatred, which has practically become institutionalized in First World societies, is the same psychological cause of entrenched differences between religions.

One of the main exponents of misandry in the 20th century was Valeria Solans, who tried to assassinate the famous artist Andy Warhol in the late 1960s.

Solans' thoughts have been studied by experts, who claim that the radical feminist created a strongly wrong vision in American feminist women. Solans said that men were inferior by nature and that sex was nothing more than a distraction for the faint of mind.

The origin of this term in today's societies is believed to be due to a female response to the ever-present male oppression. Misandric people have denigrated feminism, according to authors who support the feminist cause.

Misandry has generated the wrong image of what it is to be a feminist, and authors such as Gloria Watkins have argued strongly against women who blindly hate men. In fact, the author points out that feminism "is for everyone."

characteristics

Misandric people present a series of common characteristics with which they can be identified in a society.

Not always these conditions are indicative that a person is misandric, and in the same way it does not mean that all misandric people present these conditions. However, it is common to find them in them:

- They choose to attack a man for no apparent reason. These attacks are not physical, but psychological. They can start by talking to a man to flirt with her and then change their attitude to hurt her.

- They change their attitude with men in an extreme way. One moment they may be talking to him perfectly and the next they act as if they were someone else.

- They don't keep their promises to men.

- When addressing a man, misandric people act in a controlling way and belittle the attitudes of their male counterpart.

- They treat men differently than they treat other women.

- As a cause of their subconscious attitudes, they try to make men feel miserable for no apparent reason.

- They can disappear from relationships for no apparent reason.

Differences with misogyny

Misandry and misogyny are relatively similar concepts. While misandry refers to a hatred for men, misogyny is the opposite condition: absolute hatred against women.

There are certain attributes that separate the concept of misandry from that of misogyny. For example, it could be said that misandry is not comparable to misogyny because the former usually arises from an inherent hatred generated by patriarchal societies, which have been the most common way of distributing societies since time immemorial.

Misandry also lacks the systematic and historical impact that misogyny does have. The separation of women and their discrimination has been more common throughout history, but this is largely due to the control that men have exercised during the course of human history.

Misogyny attacks women no matter what they believe or what they do, while misandry is an inherent hatred condition that women have (usually) and does not exactly reflect a “hatred against the traditional male model”, rather, he is a bit more blind and extreme.

Differences with hembrism

Hembrism is a word that is used as a synonym for misandry and represents the hatred that women have (specifically) against men. Basically, feminism is the exclusive misandry of women.

Feminism

Feminism is a belief rather than an ingrained condition in human psychology. Feminist people believe in social, economic and political equality between the two sexes.

It is a concept that is widely coined in the Americas, but that has also gained momentum throughout the world and is increasingly common in societies. More than a hatred for something or someone, it is a movement carried out by institutions that advocate for the rights of women and their interests.

In extreme cases it can be related to misandry, since feminist people with radical beliefs tend to indiscriminately attack male influence in societies.

References

1. Sexism, The Editors of Encylopedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
2. Feminism, Laura Brunell Elinor Burkett, (nd). Taken from Britannica.com
3. Misandry: The invisible hatred of men, Joe Kort, August 9, 2016. Taken from psychologytoday.com
4. Misandry, (nd), February 23, 2018. Taken from wikipedia.org
5. Feminism r Misandry: The 21st century confusion, Medium.com, November 7, 2017. Taken from medium.com