Hatred towards women misogyny

Misogyny is a concept that refers to ingrained hatred, aversion and prejudice towards women and girls. This attitude, which at first glance seems so extreme, is a deeply rooted reality in today's societies and manifests itself day after day in different ways such as discrimination, denigration, objectification or the use of physical or verbal violence against women or girls.

Where do misogynistic attitudes come from?

There are many irrational beliefs and ideas that hide behind misogynistic attitudes and that are transmitted in the family and community context, generation after generation, achieving a climate of discrimination and inequality between people.

The distorted idea from which misogyny starts is that of considering women as inferior people to men. One of the main beliefs that derive from this idea is to affirm that women have a certain "place" or "role" in society, for example, working in a house for their family..

Another very common misogynistic idea is to consider women an object at the service of men, for example, due to their reproductive physical attributes. This causes a misogynistic person to reduce women to a simplified concept and demonstrate diverse attitudes in this regard, such as rejecting a woman's friendship or professional value, as well as valuing women exclusively for their appearance, sometimes publicly and humiliating, among many other acts.

Misogyny nurtures many distorted ideas about people by the simple fact of being born with one sex or another and is shown in very different situations: from those so common and not very violent, such as motivating a boy more than a girl to study certain careers to very violent others such as physical or psychological abuse towards a woman. Normally, misogynists deny that they are misogynistic and define themselves as sensible and judicious people, but it is in their daily actions that they show the ideas of aversion towards women.

How to identify a misogynist person?

Actions whose background is marked by misogynistic beliefs are many and persist today in many areas of our lives. Some of the clearest attitudes that misogynists tend to show on a day-to-day basis and that can be used to identify them are:

• Classifying women according to two basic categories, such as black or white and reducing them to them. They are the people who see a woman as "holy" / "provocative" or "cold" / "emotional" and tend to treat them from a supposed position of superiority based on the label they are given, as long as the woman does not conform to expectations based on the categories misogynist people consider correct for a woman.
• Controllers: Misogynistic men often need to be in absolute control in relationships with women. Be it financially, emotionally or even in matters of social relationships, misogynistic men always tend to make all decisions above the opinions of women, sometimes indirectly, ridiculing the decisions of their partners.
• Blaming: Misogynist people often blame women for everything bad that happens to themselves, not only in their relationships, but in their lives. Couples of these types of people are often constantly apologizing. In addition, they tend to blame women for all negative circumstances that, due to sexist causes, occur to themselves, since, according to these people, they are the ones who have been able to "provoke or manipulate" the default situations, having to that painful situation that she herself suffers.
• Ridicule: Misogynists often try to ridicule and humiliate women regularly, whether in social, family or work contexts. When a woman has certain opinions or makes her own decisions, she may encounter this rejection and denigration if she is close to a misogynist person, who will not tolerate that she could become the leader of any project.

The impact of misogyny on mental health

Misogynistic ideas have a strong impact on people's mental health. Misogynistic people live in a distorted reality that is more prone to violence and their intimate relationships can be problematic, as well as their emotional stability can be affected..

One of the most dangerous effects that misogyny has on the mental health of women is its internalization, the so-called internalized misogyny. This is an effect that appears especially in women who have been educated or who have surrounded themselves with an environment in which they have learned that misogynistic ideas are true and this causes psychological problems such as self-rejection, problems with their own image, eating disorders or self-blame in cases of abuse or mistreatment. Internalized misogyny can also make women themselves see the world from this distorted prism and see other women from this hateful perspective..

Whatever the reason for misogyny, its mental health consequences are devastating. Do not hesitate to seek professional help to be able to find stability and live a full life, full of respect and at peace both with yourself and with those around you.