Misogyny is something that I never fully understood while growing up. I don’t recall mistreating or abusing any women. I never perceived women as objects of my conquest. And if I ever mistreated a female, it wasn’t because I was on some misogynistic tip. I was probably just being an immature douche at the moment. I could never wrap my mind around the approach some men took to women.
You know the idealism: that women, no matter what rank or association they claim, owe men “something”. And that “something” could be sex, attention, a phone number, or anything of said value to the male species.
Yet, there are two particular situations that stood out in recent history with head shaking results.
One of these situations dealt with the tried and true overly-masculine response to rejection:
Janese Talton-Jackson, 29, of Penn Hills, Pa., located just outside Pittsburgh, was leaving the bar around 1:50 a.m. when the suspect followed her to her car, where she was shot, Pittsburgh police said. ShotSpotter, a gunshot-location system, notified police that shots had been fired in the area. When police arrived, they stopped Charles McKinney, 41, also of Penn Hills, on a traffic violation.
Police were talking with McKinney when it was radioed that a woman had been fatally shot. McKinney heard the dispatch and sped off. [1]
And then, there was the situation where a woman is always asked (by a male) to “smile” as if being a woman means they are to flash gratitude at the male’s request. Still, I found an article written by Damon Young that completely understands my disdain for the act:
After hearing Nicki tell me the details of her awful week, watching her take a phone call that somehow made things even worse, and seeing her wait for a bus, clearly upset, it angered me knowing there was a good chance some guy would notice this beautiful woman—depressed for various reasons—and politely (but insistently) demand that she put a smile on her face. Despite the fact that he’d had absolutely no idea why she was down—for all he knew, she could have just found out a family member died (which she did, btw)—he might even pepper his request with an annoyingly familiar “Come on, sis. Things can’t be that bad.” Basically, since they obviously can’t or don’t experience the range of emotions that any other human (well, any other man) can and do experience, they should be able to smile on demand. [2]
And just like that, there will always be that juxtaposition of a man asking/demanding something that a female doesn’t owe them in the first place.
Women Owe Men Nothing
We can all be remiss from the outlandish foolishness just to realize that men making demands of women that owe them nothing is both annoying, disrespectful, and demeaning. Women aren’t here to adjust their bra straps to the whim of every human being that just so happens to have a penis. They aren’t here to play up to the idealism of the worthy, courteous female. They aren’t here for our entertainment. They aren’t our puppets. They aren’t our toys. They are not our play things. So, miss me with the condescending objectification.
And anyone (men) out there that feels that “wouldn’t it be easier to be nice and give in to the man’s demands” is full of shit themselves. No, it isn’t easier to give in to a man’s demands. No, she doesn’t owe you a phone number. No, she shouldn’t have to talk to you. No, she doesn’t want to smile for you. And you know what: she doesn’t owe you (men) a God damn thing.
The Misogyny Epilogue
Let’s be clear here: women have a right to live, function, and express themselves without the male repression of objectivity. These women have every right to talk to, as to NOT talk to, men. And that is their choice to make. Expecting women to comply with a male’s requests/demands is not endearing. It is called obsessive control. It is called misogyny.
So, let the women be in control of their lives and bodies, you assholes.