A brief history of Misogyny by Jack Holland

[Onionbelt]

I've just started reading this amazing book on my kindle app, someone in another thread mentioned it. I'm just in Chapter 2. I've identified as a feminist since I first read about the halters men could put on their wives during the Victorian ( I think) in yr 9 history . I've read a lot in the meantime! But this book is quite incredible as it traces culture throughout the ages, across (so far) the middle east and the west. I wondered if anyone else is reading it at the same time and wanted a thread to post their thoughts as they go.

A man writing a book on misogyny is like Enoch Powell writing a book on race relations. There is an extension selection of feminist literature available, what makes this so special

I think it's the scope. The intro is written by his daughter who describes him as someone who rejected misogyny in his own life. He had an academic background in history and culture, so the way he analyses and identifies influences across the ages is good. I've read my fair share of feminist literature, I'm not saying he's the best, it's just a great read. Funnily, his daughter said that when he mentioned what he was writing at the time (he died just before he finished, his wife got it published) he would often get a response from people (men?) who assumed it was a book in defence of misogyny. It begins with dismantling the Greek philosophers, then the Roman "democracy". I'm up to the rise of Christianity and heading into the witch hunts...

Thanks Onionbelt, that looks interesting. I've downloaded.

Sounds really interesting, I'll have a look at it.

The term 'misogyny' seems to be used more than 'sexism' these days. I'm not sure what the difference is - apart from the presence of the currently shunned element 'sex' .
To me, misogyny sounds deep and irrational, sexism sounds structural and deliberate, and those differences are significant in how to combat them.
But I'm not sure.. anyone else wondering about misogyny v sexism?

And actually, I've thought more about your question #Whyisegg, and I want to say 1) I suppose I sounded like I was promoting the book, I didn't mean too, I would promote women's books on feminism first. But this (and this is point 2), it's not "feminist literature" as such, so far, it is an account of history that I've never come across, with a lens on why there is such a deep seated hatred/ fear of women throughout history, and modernity, and is a fascinating look at how it started.