Journal
FEMINIST THEORY
Volume 24, Issue 2, Pages 188-207Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/14647001211039365
Keywords
Affect; feminist theory; Kate Manne; misogyny; sexism; violence
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Feminist theory lacks a comprehensive understanding of misogyny, and there are issues in the current research regarding the psychological elements of misogyny, its relationship with sexism and violence.
Feminist theory, broadly construed, lacks a comprehensive theory of misogyny. While there has been a great deal of feminist work dedicated to analysing the social, cultural, political, and institutional effects of misogyny, the ancillary theories of misogyny these analyses produce are only ever partial, fragmented, vague or conceptually inconsistent. This article engages and critiques these theories by focusing on three separate but related issues within existing feminist scholarship on misogyny: the conflation of misogyny with sexism, the elision of misogyny's affective elements and the supplanting of misogyny with gendered violence. Through my identification and critique of these issues, I argue that misogyny should be understood as a profoundly complicated and emotional social dynamic. Moreover, I argue that to attempt to cleanse misogyny of its affective/emotional complexity or conflate misogyny with sexism and/or violence is to rob theorists of possible loci of apprehension and intervention. My hope is that this article will stimulate feminist theorists to work collectively towards a more comprehensive feminist understanding of misogyny - one that grapples with the interpersonal and affective complexities of how misogyny emerges, circulates and self-perpetuates.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available