Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny

369 Pages·2017·2.65 MB·English

by  Kate Manne

DOWN GIRL

DOWN GIRL
The Logic of Misogyny
Kate Manne
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Moses describeth a woman thus: “At the first beginning,” saith he, “a
woman was made to be a helper unto man.” And so they are indeed,
for she helpeth to spend and consume that which man painfully
getteth. He also saith that they were made of the rib of a man, and
that their froward [difficult] nature showeth; for a rib is a crooked
thing good for nothing else, and women are crooked by nature, for
small occasion will cause them to be angry.
The Arraignment of Lewde, Idle, Froward, and
Unconstant Women, Joseph Swetnam, 1615
Guiltie, guiltie, guiltie. Guiltie of woman- slander, and defamation.
Swetnam the Woman- Hater, Anonymous, 1618
MR. MANNINGHAM. Admirable, my dear Bella! Admirable! We
shall make a great logician of you yet—a Socrates—a John Stuart
Mill! You shall go down in history as the shining mind of your day.
That is, if your present history does not altogether submerge you—
take you away from your fellow creatures. And there is a danger of
that, you know, in more ways than one. [Puts milk on the mantel.]
Well—what did I say I would do if you did not find that bill?
MRS. MANNINGHAM. [Choked.] You said you would lock me up.
Angel Street (or “Gaslight”), Patrick Hamilton, 1938

CONTENTS
Preface: Going Wrong xi
Introduction: Eating Her Words 1
Smothering  1
Silence  4
Vocal Changes  7
Aims  12
Nonappearance  15
Overview  18
Regrets 24
1. Threatening Women 31
The Isla Vista Killings  34
What Kind of Question Is “What Is Misogyny?”  41
What Misogyny Might Be  49
2. Ameliorating Misogyny 55
Rush Limbaugh on Sandra Fluke  55
Contents
An Ameliorative, Intersectional Proposal  62
The Metaphysical Dependence of Misogyny
on Patriarchy  67
The Varieties of Misogynist Hostility  68
The Epistemology of Misogyny  69
(Latent) Misogyny as a Disposition  71
Misogyny as Systemic, and as Itself Part of a
(Much) Larger System 71
The Analysis Exposes Underlying Moral
Characteristics of Misogyny  72
Misogyny Can Exist with or without Misogynists  73
No Man’s Island  75
3. Discriminating Sexism 78
Sexism vs. Misogyny  78
Misogyny and Sexual Objectification  84
The Art of the Smackdown  87
Loving Mothers, Erasing Others  91
Withholding (from) Women  98
Misogyny as Backlash  101
4. Taking His (Out) 106
Misogyny and Entitlement  106
What She Has to Give  110
His for the Taking  113
Taking Lives: Shame and Family Annihilators  121
Looking Ahead  128
5. Humanizing Hatred 133
Humanist Thought in Action  135
Clarifying Humanism  141
The Trouble with Humanism  146
A Socially Situated Alternative  150
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Contents
Dominating People  158
Women, All Too Human  168
6. Exonerating Men 177
How to Get Away with Murder  178
Boy Kills Girl  181
Testimonial Injustice as Hierarchy Preservation  185
Himpathy  196
Locker Room Talk  205
Misogynoir in Action: The Daniel Holtzclaw Case  209
7. Suspecting Victims 220
On So- Called Victim Culture  220
What Is a Victim? The Role of Moral Narratives  223
(Down)Playing the Victim  228
Independent People: A Case Study  240
8. Losing (to) Misogynists 249
When a Man Competes with a
Woman: Comparative Gender Biases  250
Social Rejection Is Mediated by Disgust  256
Expressions of Disgust toward Hillary  259
How Disgust Sticks  261
Keeping One’s Distance  263
Care- Mongering  267
Gendered Split Perception  269
Faking It  273
Conclusion: The Giving She  279
Bibliography  309
Index  327
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