The world has created a social environment that suppresses women, which has become an issue that needs to be readdressed. Unacceptable laws, norms, and policies hold women or girls back in every part and place of life. Both sexism and Misogyny are part of a patriarchal society and almost have the same concept, but they are slightly different. The movement of feminists has gathered momentum, making words such as Misogyny and sexism enter mainstream vocabulary (Prasad, 2019). These two words can be described as hatred or disregard, but Misogyny is more intense than sexism as it focuses on girls and women. This paper will explore how misogyny and sexism differ based on their definition, nature, and gender.
By definition, Misogyny is a patriarchal branch of law enforcement propagated by hatred against women and girls. Its manifestation is done through sexual discrimination, violence against women, and treating women as sex symbols. Furthermore, law scholars link the ideology to the subjection of women and girls to punishment for their efforts to challenge patriarchal norms. In some societies, the authority uses misogynistic rules to punish women or girls who fail to resonate with the status quo or try to challenge male dominance (Prasad, 2019). These characteristics create an environment or social system that exposes women to hostility only because of existing in a ‘man’s world. Unlike Misogyny, sexism is a preconception or discrimination based on gender and sex. It may be the devaluation that is based on the gender or sex of a person with limited job opportunities, as an example that is directed against women in particular (Konstantinovsky, 2021). Unlike Misogyny, sexism mainly focuses on bringing out the superiority of men over women and consistently portrays the power balance between them.
Another difference between the two terms is their nature of the occurrence. Sexism has a scientific nature of giving ideologies, theories, beliefs, and ideas that disregard the acts of women. It is linked to beliefs about the fundamental nature of men and women and their respective societal roles. In other words, sexism is a form of societal perception toward women. It generally advocates for more muscular men while weakening women, thus causing a significant imbalance in gender roles and overall perception. On the other hand, Misogyny is considered to have a moralistic nature of acting out those disregards blatantly and more intensely than sexism. It has always been known to be too pushy, too promiscuous, and too shrill and always acts as the enforcement arm of the law (Prasad, 2019 Thereby, its hostility and violence could be more prolonged than that of sexism.
Finally, the understanding of sexism has changed over the year. The recognition of other types of gender, like transgender, by international policies, has changed people’s understanding of the concept. However, during the 21st century, it was expanded, which involved the oppression of any sex, with boys and men included, transgender people, and intersex people. As sexism became more mainstream, it came to encompass women and males who experienced bias and inequality based on their gender (Masequesmay, 2022). In contrast, Misogyny is not just a plain ideology that precepts women but has its central idea that is focused on portraying hatred to women and girls only. Unlike sexism, Misogyny has never changed its ideological perspective over the years, and it remains illegal by law to be Misogynist.
References
Masequesmay, G. (2022). Sexism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.
Prasad, P. (2019). The difference between sexism and Misogyny, and why it matters. The Swaddle. Web.