S2 Ep8: Understanding the Logic of Misogyny With Philosopher Kate Manne

Liberating Motherhood

Misogyny isn’t really about hating women. After all, if pure hate explained everything, wouldn’t that mean that only mean men abuse women, and that misogynists never seek relationships with women? Men are able to mistreat women they claim to love because of the internal logic of misogyny. They’re not irrational or unhinged; they’re following a set of rules rooted in entitlement.
Kate Manne is a philosopher who focuses on understanding what’s behind the misogynistic behavior patriarchy creates and enables. She envisions misogyny as a sort of disciplinary tool for reinforcing gendered norms, and preserving men’s access to resources—especially the highly valuable resource of women’s labor.
We cover a lot of ground in this podcast, including:

• The reflexive denial in the media of misogyny.
  
• Misogyny as a system for enforcing men’s entitlement to women’s labor.
  
• Why misogyny is not random and not mental illness, but instead a set of corrupt moral values that reflect the values of the wider culture.
  
• Misogyny as more than mere hatred of women, and why certain women may be more impacted by misogyny than others.
  
• How not to hate your husband after children…or maybe you should just hate him.
  
• The normalization of all forms of violence.
  
• The parallels between misogyny and fascism.
  
• Fatphobia as a core element of misogyny.
  

About Kate Manne
Kate Manne is an associate professor at the Sage School of philosophy at Cornell University. She specializes in moral, social, and feminist philosophy, and has written three books: DOWN GIRL: The Logic of Misogyny (Oxford University Press, 2018), ENTITLED: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (Crown, 2020) and UNSHRINKING: How to Face Fatphobia (Crown, 2024), a National Book Award finalist in non-fiction. In addition to academic work, she regularly writes opinion pieces and essays for a wider audience, including in outlets such as The New York Times, The Cut, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Nation, and Time. She writes a substack newsletter, More to Hate, exploring misogyny, fatphobia, and their intersection.