Dr. Kate Manne of Cornell University spoke at Quinnipiac University as a part of the annual Alfred P. Stiernotte lecture on Oct. 17.
The subject of her presentation was misogyny and how to fight it.
Manne has written three books, “DOWN GIRL: The Logic of Misogyny,” “UNSHRINKING: How to Face Fatphobia” and “ENTITLED: How Male Privilege Hurts Women.” She also writes for publications such as the New York Times and The Washington Post.
Manne proposed a new definition of misogyny, different from what she described as a “naive” definition of misogyny.
“It’s primarily a property of social systems or environments as a whole, in which girls and women face distinctively hostile and hateful forces that kind of come at us, and those forces have a particular function,” Manne said during her lecture. “That function is to police and enforce patriarchal norms and expectations.”
Manne made a distinction between sexism and misogyny.
“So sexism is the kind of the ideas, the brains of the operation… misogyny is about saying you have to conform or adults there will be consequences,” Manne said.
According to Manne, misogyny often targets “gender deviant behavior,” or women who aren’t complying with patriarchal norms or expectations.
Manne also believes that misogynists don’t view women as subhuman.
“I think we’re being seen as human, all too human givers who are not giving enough and who are failing to be adequately unique, nurturing, surveil and giving of our moral obligations,” Manne said.
Manne also emphasized that misogynists often use the defense of “I have daughters” to claim they are not misogynists. She said that, “it’s the women who threaten them who are often in the cross heads of their possibilities.”
Men who love the women in their life can still be misogynists, emphasized Manne.
“Misogyny turns out to be perfectly compatible with, indeed conducive to loving the attentive or devoted mother, wife, daughter, secretary, nurse, etc.,” Manne said.
During the lecture, Manne provided three scenarios where misogyny is typically applied.
Her first example are “incels,” who she described as “usually young, invariably cishet or straight, men who embody a sense of entitlement to sex.”
Manne used Elliot Roger as an example of an incel, whom she described as the “patron saint of incels.” Roger, described as “the supreme gentlemen,” stabbed three roommates and then participated in a shooting spree targeting a sorority house, leaving six people dead and 14 wounded, according to The Guardian. Roger wrote a 141-page manifesto describing his deep-rooted hatred of women, calling himself “the ideal magnificent gentlemen,” according to the BBC.
Manne’s second example of applied misogyny involved women not receiving equitable medical care.
“Literature is showing that girls and women, especially girls and women of color, suffering from pain and health problems, are routinely dismissed as hysterical, oversensitive and even as malingerers, and that they’re far more likely than male counterparts to receive diagnoses like histrionic disorder and dismissed as having a psychosomatic illness rather than having a physical problems,” Manne said.
The third and last example provided by Manne was that women are more likely to be picked for positions of power when applying for jobs.
Manne provided evidence through a study done by Madeline Pileman and collaborators at NYU, stating that 80% of the time a male is deemed more competent for a powerful position.
When offering ways to fight misogyny, she suggested that it can be fought and defeated starting from a very young age.
“We also have to think about the fact that male entitlement needs to be fought from a very young age,” Manne said.
When asked by an audience member if she believed that misandry was “made up” by misogynists, Manne responded by explaining that there are not enough matriarchal norms and expectations for misandry to exist in our social systems.
The Stiernotte lecture series has been funded from an endowment provided by the estate of the late Alfred P. Stiernotte, who was the first to teach philosophy at Quinnipiac more than 50 years ago.
