I am writing this before Election Day, so I thought to write about a societal problem that will linger regardless of who is elected president on Nov. 5. Systemic misogyny is hardly new, yet its forms change to meet the moment of each generation. It is practiced with varying results in different cultures and countries while the central premise is the dehumanization of women.

Gloria Steinem wrote, “Any woman who chooses to behave like a full human being should be warned that the armies of the status quo will treat her as something of a dirty joke. That’s their natural and first weapon. She will need her sisterhood.”

Kamala Harris’ Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters have always had her back, and other groups of women in her life give her strength in the midst of the constant double standard directed at her. Harris has been examined and critiqued unlike far less qualified men in the same public servant roles. We have observed the absurdity of requiring her to perform perfectly while the predatory and blatantly incompetent misogynist running against her suffers no such scrutiny.

I can only hope that our country’s lead misogynist suggesting nine barrels could be shooting at Liz Cheney’s face helped encourage women from all walks of life to vote for Harris. Abortion rights has long been a political issue to motivate voters on each side, yet the anti-choice misogynists have gone too far for most Americans, so I am hoping it will galvanize voters who may or may not be pro-choice but who understand that a woman gets to decide what is right for her and every woman needs reliable care when her own life is in jeopardy.

Does any woman want a known predator who has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women to “protect” them? Such hubris is a pathetic and desperate attempt to further gaslight the American public. In reality, women need to protect themselves and each other against the forces of toxic patriarchy. Men of good conscience need to step up whenever an opportunity presents itself to combat the heartless and harmful small and large attacks against the dignity of women.

Extreme misogyny is practiced as a norm in too many parts of the world. The system would not work unless women were convinced to collaborate. They may be kept uneducated or mostly confined to their homes to prevent autonomy of any kind, but there are always more senior women who have an enforcer role that may feel like leadership to them. In such systems, a woman does not merely experience ridicule if she steps out of line; she may be tortured or killed.

Racism and cultural bias play into deeper levels of the dehumanization of women. When Black girls and women go missing, it’s met with less urgency than when white girls and women disappear in the U.S. Partner abuse and murders of Native American women barely get covered by the news media despite tragically high rates in many of those communities.

A particularly disturbing and specific example of the dismissal and denial of extreme misogyny is the targeted torture, rape, mutilation and murder of hundreds of Jewish and other Israeli women on Oct. 7, 2023. It has been identified as a form of necessary resistance by the most callous organizations and individuals. Do these people truly believe that Jewish women deserved the unthinkable violence that they suffered on this day? If so, they forfeit their own humanity. They are active supporters of the intersection of antisemitism and misogyny.

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

‘Poverty wages have to go’: Some 200 rally at UMass flagship, calling for fair pay and full staffing

‘The magic that existed back then’: Academy of Music to screen time capsule film of New Year’s Eve 1984 concert at The Rusty Nail

Bittersweet Bakery & Cafe in Deerfield reopens with smaller menu, renewed focus on dinners

Area property deed transfers, Dec. 6

UMass football: Joe Harasymiak formally introduced as Minutemen’s next head coach

Back on her feet with new store at Westhampton’s Hanging Mountain Farm

Your Daily Puzzles

Cross|Word

Flipart

Typeshift

SpellTower

Really Bad Chess

Organizations and people who advocate for women’s equality on all fronts should believe and stand by women from every walk of life when gender-based violence or oppression occurs. When it happens in India, the UK, Afghanistan, the U.S., China, Nigeria, Brazil or any other place on earth, outcry should ensue. Imagine the potential for change if we were constantly outraged by misogyny rather than numb to it as normative or impossible to transform.

If we are fortunate enough to say “Madame President” in the near future, Harris will be confronted with sexist and misogynist tropes continually. We must distinguish between genuine criticism and absurd accusations. Win or lose, there is much more work to do around the world. Ireland’s former president, Mary Robinson, famously said, “In a society where the rights and potential of women are constrained, no man can truly be free. He may have power, but he will not have freedom.” Misogyny madness cannot end soon enough.

J.M. Sorrell is a feminist at her core. She will never consider gender-based violence or oppression acceptable.