''Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny'' is a book by
Kate Manne
Kate Alice Manne (born 1983) is an Australian philosopher, associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, and author. Her work is primarily in feminist philosophy, moral philosophy, and social philosophy.
Education and career
Born in A ...
, treating
misogyny
Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
in the tradition of analytic
feminist philosophy
Feminist philosophy is an approach to philosophy from a feminist perspective and also the employment of philosophical methods to feminist topics and questions. Feminist philosophy involves both reinterpreting philosophical texts and methods in ...
.
[Manne, Kat]
"Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny"
Published 8 November 2017 by Oxford University Press, , Retrieved on 12 November 2018. The book won the
Association of American Publishers
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP lobbies for book, journal, and education publishers in the United States. AAP members include most of the major commercia ...
2019 PROSE Award in Philosophy (as one category in the Humanities), as well as the overall 2019 PROSE Award for Excellence in Humanities.
Summary
Manne proposes that
patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
,
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
, and misogyny are distinct: sexism is an ideology justifying patriarchy, while misogyny enforces patriarchy by punishing women who deviate from patriarchy. Manne believes dehumanization of women is not necessary for misogynist violence.
Himpathy
In ''Down Girl'', Manne introduces the term ''himpathy'', "the excessive sympathy shown toward male perpetrators of sexual violence," and develops the concept in the context of her analysis of the ''
People v. Turner
''People v. Turner'', formally ''The People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner'' (2015), is a high-profile criminal case in which Brock Allen Turner was convicted by jury trial of three counts of felony sexual assault.
On Januar ...
'' sexual assault trial. The term received media exposure in Manne's ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' op-ed, "
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since Oc ...
and America's 'Himpathy' Reckoning", and in titles and headlines in ''
Vox'', ''
'',
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
, ''
The Chronicle of Higher Education
''The Chronicle of Higher Education'' is a newspaper and website that presents news, information, and jobs for college and university faculty and student affairs professionals (staff members and administrators). A subscription is required to rea ...
'', and ''
The Christian Post
''The Christian Post'' is an American nondenominational Christianity, non-denominational, Conservatism, conservative, Evangelicalism, evangelical Christian media, Christian online newspaper. Based in Washington, D.C., it was founded in March 200 ...
''. In the book's preface, Manne credits her husband with coining the term.
Recognition
British philosopher
Nigel Warburton
Nigel Warburton (; born 1962) is a British philosopher. He is best known as a populariser of philosophy, having written a number of books in the genre, but he has also written academic works in aesthetics and applied ethics.
Education
Warburton r ...
chose the book as the best philosophy book in 2018.
The
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...
awarded its biennial Book Prize to ''Down Girl'' in 2019. In the prize announcement, the Association wrote: "Manne has succeeded in measurably improving the quality of public discourse on very timely and vexed issues by writing a book that is both accessible and rigorous."
References
{{reflist
Oxford University Press books
Feminist theory
2017 non-fiction books