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Modern Misogyny: Anti-Feminism in a Post-Feminist MODERN MISOGYNY MODERN MISOGYNY: ANTI- FEMINISM IN A POST-FEMINIST ERA Kristin J. Anderson Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape T own Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New Y ork, NY 10016 © Kristin J. Anderson 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anderson, Kristin J., 1967– Modern misogyny : anti-feminism in a post-feminist era / Kristin J. Anderson. pages cm Includes index. ISBN 978–0–19–932817–8 eISBN: 978–0–19–932819–2 1. Misogyny. 2. Feminism. I. T itle. HQ1233.A686 2015 305.42—dc23 2014012169 For Alana and Alyssa CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction: The (Lack of) Significance of Feminism 1. Consumerism, Individualism, and Anti-Activism 2. Post-feminism Post-9/11 3. Manufacturing Man-Hating Feminism 4. The End of Men and the Boy Crisis 5. Women are Wonderful, but Most Are Disliked 6. Is Feminism Good for Women? Conclusion Index ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am grateful to many individuals whose generosity made this work possible. First, I am inestimably indebted to Christina Accomando for her friendship and her political and intellectual guidance over the past two and a half decades. I am a better teacher, writer, and activist because of her patience and persistence (and numerous alliterative suggestions). Over the past two years, it was a consistent pleasure to work with Sean K. O’Hare, who read the entire manuscript in its many versions and provided assistance with organization, editing, substantive suggestions, and superbly snarky comments in the margins. Over the course of this research and writing, many colleagues provided invaluable feedback on drafts of chapters: Christina Accomando, Bonnie Field, Melinda Kanner, Campbell Leaper, Rachael Robnett, Larissa Smith, and Tammis Thomas, all helped make this a better book. I thank my students at the University of Houston-Downtown whose meticulous work on this project was vital: Sagrario Baca, Kevin Farren, Eynar Hernandez, Lisa Ludtke, Christina Matthews, and Alicia Young. Finally, I am grateful to the following people for their friendship and support: Travis Crone, Shauna Curtis, Bonnie Field, Alex Rossman, Larissa Smith, Cindy Stewart, Fran and Kim Watson, and, most especially, Tammis Thomas. INTRODUCTION THE (LACK OF) SIGNIFICANCE OF FEMINISM A strange phenomenon has accompanied the unprecedented growth of feminist activism around the globe: the recurrent pronouncement of feminism’s death. From the 1970s through the new millennium, journalists, academics, and even some feminist scholars have declared the demise of feminism and hailed the advent of the post-feminist age...Given the vibrancy and the variety of proliferating forms of feminist theory and practice, why the premature burial of feminism? –MARY HAWKESWORTH, 20041 Pundits, politicians, and the press have been declaring the demise of feminism since the birth of the women’s movement. The feminist postmortem has become so predictable that it even has been dubbed by one feminist critic as False Feminist Death Syndrome. “This pernicious media- borne virus...has popped up in print and over the airwaves on and off for decades, poisoning public opinion against the ‘F-word’ (feminism)2 and contaminating our collective understanding of the history, ideology and goals of the women’s movement.”3 Some commentators describe the state of feminism as “post-feminist,” that women have come a long way in recent decades and there really is no need for a continued feminist movement. We see “post-feminist” alongside equally questionable claims of Barack Obama’s election as U.S. president as signaling a “postracial” America. The notion here seems to be that because the country has made so much progress on racial equality, the election of an African American president signals our arrival into a society that no longer needs antiracist activism or structural change. As Rinku Sen argues, “Postracialism grows out of the trope of colorblindness, but is even more aggressive in resisting racial justice standards. Like post-feminist, it implies not just a destination—a society that doesn’t use race to judge people—but asserts that we have arrived at that place.”4 American women have made so much progress, the post-feminist argument continues, as evidenced by their numbers in the workforce and in college graduation, surely we have achieved gender equality. Modern Misogyny examines contemporary sexism and anti-feminism during what has been described as a post-feminist era in the United States and other Western countries. This book critically analyzes the notion that the feminist movement is unnecessary because the work of feminism is complete. From this point of view, women, regardless of their race, social class, sexual orientation, or geography, have achieved equality in most meaningful respects. Feminism is now merely a history lesson. In fact, the argument goes, women have been so successful in achieving equality, it is now men who are victims of gender discrimination. These sentiments make up modern misogyny. Contrary to the claims of the post-feminist punditry, equality has not been achieved. Instead, sexism is now packaged in a more palatable but stealthy form. This book addresses the nature, function, and implications of modern misogyny but also asserts the benefits of a continued feminist movement. My academic training is in social psychology, and that lens informs the approach to critiquing the myths of modern misogyny. My area of specialization examines subtle, contemporary forms of prejudice and discrimination, and social psychology is particularly well equipped to examine this sort of bias. On the one hand, overt, explicit, and extreme forms of prejudice and discrimination still exist. In fact, the number of hate groups in the United States has increased steadily since the election of President Barack Obama.5 At the same time, much contemporary prejudice and discrimination is subtle, covert, implicit, and often nonconscious. Subtle prejudice, or what I have called “benign” bigotry,6 entails everyday, seemingly innocent slights, comments, overgeneralizations, othering, and denigration of marginalized groups. Subtle prejudice is insidious because (1) it can be nonconscious and unintentional, so the perpetrator may not be aware of engaging in it, (2) due to its subtlety, the target or victim may not notice it as prejudice, and (3) it can have the veneer of a “positive” stereotype. Stereotypes about subordinate groups can appear complimentary (e.g., women are nurturing, Latinos are family-oriented), but even positive stereotypes are harmful because they rob the person of individuality, they box people into certain behaviors (and, sometimes, lower-paid jobs), and the person being judged is not seen in individual terms but in categorical, less accurate, and more exaggerated terms. At the cultural level, subtle prejudice permeates all corners of society; like the air we breathe, it is everywhere and we are often unaware that we inhale it.7 In studying subtle prejudice directed toward ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities, I have examined its devastating consequences in employment, education, and the criminal justice system. In this book, I examine misogyny from the perspective of the theories and research on subtle prejudice. Many people believe that women as a group are doing just fine, that feminism has run its course, and that the new victims of sexism are men. This book will demonstrate otherwise by illuminating manifestations of modern misogyny that are harder to see than overt sexism. Personal anecdotes of discrimination are important in terms of honoring people’s lived experiences, and they can provide vivid and memorable accounts of discrimination. However, personal reports of discrimination can be dismissed by skeptics: Maybe you weren’t qualified for the job, maybe your interview didn’t go well—why would you assume sexism played a role? Maybe your boss treats everyone badly? The experimental method is a powerful way to study and detect subtle yet pervasive forms of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Controlled experiments recreate real-life situations in which discrimination is evidenced often without the perpetrator’s awareness. For instance, if we create fictitious résumés with standardized qualifications such as education and experience, attach a woman’s name to some and a man’s name to others,
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