In this episode, we will discuss different ways of understanding the motives of misogyny, or what is more commonly understood as the hatred of women, as well as examine the upsurge in misogynist rhetoric in the 2024 Presidential election.

In this week’s episode, we will approach patriarchy as a social system that overvalues maleness and masculinity at the same time it devalues femaleness and femininity. We will talk about the ‘logics’ of patriarchy that not only attempt to justify the system as inevitable and good but also encourage men to fear the judgment and reprisal of other men. In the last part of the episode, we will consider a handful of examples from the 2024 Presidential campaign that demonstrate the ways in which men police the masculinity of other men to defend patriarchal power.

This episode explores two ideas that deserve our early attention: unlearning and ignorance. Unlearning is crucial if we are to evolve our thinking, but we may need to learn how to unlearn. Ignorance has many motives, but I am most concerned about the ways that power benefits from our ignorance. Let’s understand how that happens.