What Misogynists Fear

Have been inspired and horrified by a storm taking place on another blog Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford ( http://clementinefordwriter.blogspot.com.au ).  She a feminist and a writer which seems to be license for men (I use the noun reservedly) to come out from under rocks and abuse her.  Abuse her with the most vile and vulgar language, sometimes with vile and vulgar photos attached, one can imagine.  I had no idea there was so much hatred of women by men who often appear in their facebook photos with wives/girlfriends and most bewilderingly, avec leur famille.

The second thing that strikes me is how normal they look.  They look like the guy in line with me at the grocery store, the guy at the gym, the guy that lives up the road with his family.  It seems almost all of them are in their twenties and thirties and they all seem to have this sense of entitlement, that  the right to verbally abuse, even threaten women, is theirs by divine decree.

Which brings me to the third thing.  We generally hate what we fear.  These macho men who describe in excruciating detail what they will do to Clementine if they meet her in the street, are AFRAID of women.  Sure, they might be married, have girlfriends, love their mother and their sister, but beyond that they are terrified.  Why are they so frightened of us?

Clementine was attacked because she wielded a pen.  In a physical contest, she's no match.  I remember my mother warning me (she knew, as all women knew) that the weakest man is stronger than a strong woman.  Perhaps now, in this day of strength training and gyms that might not be universally true anymore, but 50 years ago, when this advice was given, it certainly was.  Stay safe, don't put yourself in danger, stay small and quiet and acquiescent because a weak man is stronger than a strong woman.

Unless she parries and thrusts with a pen, then by god, she's any man's equal.  To a man who marches through life on muscles and testosterone, that's anathema.

The other reason these types of men are afraid is because we SEE them.  We are not blinded by physical appearances, we see the frightened little boys who are afraid they will be caught out as little men.  Any woman who has had an intimate relationship with a man knows he isn't always manly.  Manliness implies courage, respecting oneself and others, being comfortable in ones own skin.  The lightning quick ferocity with which these men struck out at Clementine illustrates how emasculated they feel when approached on a level playing field.

They remind me of  dogs made aggressive by fear.  Fear aggression was scary to deal with at the vet clinic.  The dogs were in a heightened state of arousal; eyes bulging in an attempt to see everything at once, lips curled back showing teeth, hackles raised, tail either straight or curled between their legs.  They attacked with an abandon fueled by terror.  To them it was a matter of life or death.  They didn't know we just wanted to give them an injection or trim their toenails.  Their reaction was out of all proportion.

Just like these trolls on social media.  If they weren't so dangerous they'd be pitiable.