misogyny

Literally, hatred of women. Kate Millet brought the idea of misogyny to the fore in Sexual Politics (1970), where she provided a broad theoretical base for radical feminism . She argued that patriarchal power creates a sexist society and that sexual politics grounded in misogyny result in women's oppression both within the private realm and within social institutions such as the class system and the education system. Andrea Dworkin and Susan Brownmiller pointed to important links between misogyny and men's sexual violence towards women, while Susan Griffin suggested connections between militarism and misogyny. Adrienne Rich defined misogyny as institutionalized, organized, normalized hostility and violence against women. Feminist psychoanalysts, following in particular the work of Melanie Klein and the Object Relations School , have argued that misogyny is rooted in the infant's primitive rage towards its mother in the context of a society in which child-rearing is almost invariably carried out by women. Nancy Chodorow (The Reproduction of Mothering, 1978) contends that only the full participation of men in infant care would eradicate the roots of misogyny.