Laura Bates

Imagine a world in which a vast network of misogynists is able to operate, virtually undetected. Imagine a world in which these extremists commit terrorist acts, united by their deep hatred of women. Imagine a world in which they groom and radicalise vulnerable teenage boys, shielded by veils of irony and ‘banter’. Imagine a world in which their community swells to become an international movement, tens of thousands strong. You don't have to imagine that world … you already live in it. In her explosive new book, acclaimed feminist writer Laura Bates lifts the lid on the communities of men who hate women, going undercover, both on- and offline, to explore the ideology and impact they have worldwide. Starting in the murkiest depths of the internet, Laura observes these groups in action, from incels and pickup artists to Men’s Rights Activists and Men Going Their Own Way, tracing how effectively their ideas have been smuggled into our collective consciousness – via trolls, the media, celebrities and politicians – to emerge unchecked in our schools, workplaces and corridors of power, posing deadly harm to men and women alike. Including exclusive interviews with former members of these groups, as well as with the men fighting against them, Laura seeks to understand what attracts people to this movement, how it operates – and, above all, what must be done to stop it.

From incels to pickup artists, the truth about extreme misogyny and how it affects us all

Men Who Hate Women

sina (she/her) 

Once you know that there are hundreds of thousands of people out there despising women to the point that many of them believe we should all be exterminated, you can never unknow it.

So, when we tell women to simply switch off, or spend less time online, or stop visiting certain websites, what we are really saying is that they, not their harassers, should suffer the negative consequences of trolling. They, not the trolls, should be excluded from hostile spaces. 

Source cited: UNODC (2018): Global study on homicide: gender-related killing of women and girls.

Men hurt women. It is a fact. It is an epidemic. It is a public health catastrophe. It is normal. 

Over a third of all women worldwide have experienced physical and/ or sexual violence (not including sexual harassment) at some point in their lives. One hundred and thirty-seven women across the world are killed by a member of their own family every day. 

What we are seeing when we witness the dramatically different reporting on incel mass murders, in comparison to other similar crimes, is borne out of the overlap of two major media blind spots: the first is its reluctance to classify white murderers as terrorists with anywhere near the same eagerness as Muslim or non-white perpetrators; the second is its tendency to downplay, excuse and humanise men who commit violence against women in general, including (and particularly) in domestic settings.

But somehow, seemingly, when it is 'just' women at stake, all our societal norms about not negotiating with terrorists fly out of the window. Suddenly, we seem quite willing to entertain the possibility that throwing a few women (particularly if they are 'just sex workers') under the bus seems like a pretty good trade-off.

But not being a 'misogynist' doesn't mean that you can't sometimes behave in sexist ways. We all do it. When we make unspoken, unthinking assumptions about somebody's appropriateness for a particular role. When we praise our daughters for their looks and our sons for their strength. When we automatically reach for the word 'bitch' to describe a woman who has acted ina way we don't like. This is not extreme misogyny, but it is there nonetheless, and it has an impact.

This in itself may be another major driver of our blind spot when it comes to male supremacy; in a society in which misogyny and violence against women are so widespread and so normalised, it is difficult for us to consider these things 'extreme or 'radical', because they are simply not out of the ordinary. We do not leap to tackle a terrorist threat to women, because the reality of women being terrorised, violated and murdered by men is already part of the wallpaper. 

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