Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture [Hardcover]

Paul Nathanson (Author), Toby Elaine Morantz (Author), Katherine K. Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2001

Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young argue that men have routinely been portrayed as evil, inadequate, or as honorary women in popular culture since the 1990s. These stereotypes are profoundly disturbing, the authors argue, for they both reflect and create a hatred and thus further fracture an already fractured society. In "Spreading Misandry," they show that creating a workable society in the twenty-first century requires us to rethink feminist and other assumptions about men. The first in an eventual three part series, "Spreading Misandry" offers an impressive array of evidence from everyday life - case studies from movies, television programs, novels, comic strips, and even greeting cards - to identify a phenomenon that is just now being recognised as a serious cultural problem.Discussing misandry - the sexist counterpart of misogyny - the authors make clear that this form of hatred must not be confused with reverse sexism or anger and should neither be trivialised nor excused. They break new ground by discussing misandry in moral terms rather than purely psychological or sociological ones and refer critically not only to feminism but to political ideologies on both the left and the right. They also illuminate the larger context of this problem, showing that it reflects the enduring conflict between the Enlightenment and romanticism, inherent flaws in postmodernism, and the dualistic ('us' versus 'them') mentality that has influenced Western thought since ancient times.A groundbreaking study, "Spreading Misandry" raises serious questions about justice and identity in an increasingly polarised society. It is important for anyone in interested in ethics, gender, popular culture, or are just concerned about the society we are creating. "Spreading Misandry ...does make a convincing argument that, since the 1990s, ...Men, have become society's official scapegoats and held responsible for all evil ...Women are society's official victims and held responsible for all good' - "Independent" on Sunday, 4 August, 2002.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Perhaps it was inevitable that equal time should have been granted to those who claim that modern popular culture is biased against men. Nathanson (Over the Rainbow: The Wizard of Oz as a Secular Myth) and Young (religious studies, McGill Univ.) use an extensive appendix of antimale bias in film, television, and even greeting cards to show that in the past ten years, the pendulum has swung too far. Equally challenging is their notion that academic elites (i.e., feminist idealogs) are to blame. The problem with their approach is twofold. The potential examples of both misogyny and misandry probably run nearly neck and neck in film, television, and music today. Moreover, it is in the very nature of these media to describe conflict, especially gender conflict, as their core subject matter. The entertainment beast is such that somebody has to be the bad guy excuse me person, and hence the authors' sincerest wish that Hollywood end the war between the sexes is not likely to be fulfilled. Academic libraries may want to add this title to balance their collections in the interest of rigorous academic fairness. Jeff Ingram, Newport P.L., Newport, OR
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Genuinely intelligent and insightful. Spreading Misandry is provocative in the very best sense and will help point the way toward social harmony and away from bickering and fingerpointing." Donna Laframboise, author of The Princess at the Window: A New Gender Morality "An important book. Nathanson and Young do a good job on introducing the average reader to the positions of various intellectuals as they relate to this moral issue and to moral issues in general." Charles H. Long, emeritus, religious studies, University of California at Santa Barbara

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 370 pages
• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press (November 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773522727
• ISBN-13: 978-0773522725
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,412,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamite!!, December 17, 2001

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Martian Bachelor (Feminacentric America) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture (Hardcover)

(...) this book (in spite of a few small flaws) is perhaps the best thing dealing with men's issues to come down the pike in the last couple of years. And that includes Warren Farrell's last two books, the first of which, "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say", deals with much the same topic (though it's nevertheless distinct in its particulars). The critique Nathanson & Young offer up is absolutely devastating and one can only hope that it opens up an entirely new field of badly needed criticism because, as extensive as the book is, it barely touches the surface when one stops to think about it. For example, the immensely popular "Frazier" TV show isn't even mentioned, and Seinfeld only appears in a footnote -- so there's much material yet to be mined, especially at the rate the garbage is being produced for dozens of channels.

One weak spot I noticed was the tendency to analyze works from the early 90's rather than more recent offerings. I got the impression much of the material had sat on the shelf for a long time and it made me wonder why this was, so it would have been nice to have had some explanation of this, perhaps in the preface. Because of the ephemeral nature of "hits", I wasn't sure that I'd even heard of some of the films they go into great depths on. This was only a minor drawback, but I did wonder why, if they were going back in time some, they ignored, for example, the mid-80's (`85?) Best (sic) Picture "Out of Africa", which seemed a prime example of many of their themes (which also touch on race), while perhaps trying too hard to make their case on one or two other films. No matter, I'm being picky. No book as impassioned as this could be absolutely perfect. They successfully make it impossible for anyone who reads this book -- even someone already somewhat sensitive to the central idea -- to ever look at popular media quite the same way again, which is exactly what they intended. Even if their exact theory as to *why* all this is going on might be subject to some more debate IMO, the overwhelming evidence they present is more than reason enough to read the book. I know I'll be re-reading sections of my copy for a long time to come in order to fully absorb all the important ideas here.

67 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it for your sons and grandsons!, October 14, 2003

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Hot One (Suffragette City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture (Hardcover)

This book is absolutely enlightening! Just about any man who is honest with himself already realizes that male bashing is an allowable pastime within out pop culture. Not long ago, I walked into my front room to find my son upset at his favorite cable cartoon channels. He told me glumly that every man on there was stupid or incompetent or evil. I sat down with him, and sure enough, he was right. The big stupid guy looking for a date, but the women all physically assaulted him. The superhero girls saving the stupid city mayor (who has a smart and capable female assistant who really runs the city). The girl crime fighter, with a comic sidekick boy, who repeatedly needs rescuing. Yep, it's so blatant that a 12 year old could see it!

But how deep is this? Did my son merely fixate on a few anomalous exceptions? This book goes to great length to show just how widespread misandrous (anti-men) expressions have become in our culture, and how we got here. Don't read this book for yourself, read it for your sons and grandsons. There's something insidious going on here, and if you care for the young men who will inherit this country, then you need to get alarmed at the world that is being made for them.

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and eye-opening book, April 4, 2004

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture (Hardcover)

In this fascinating book, authors Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young look at the pervasiveness of misadry (hatred and belittling of men) in American popular culture. Throughout the book, the authors give a great many examples of blatant misandry, and then carefully put them into context within the feminist worldview. The final chapter is, though, the crowning glory of this book, examining what ideology is, and how modern feminism is an ideology and what that means for ourselves and our future.

This is a fascinating and eye-opening book. I do believe that anyone who even casually watches television or movies is aware of a prevalent misandry, but the authors of this book go a long way towards putting the phenomenon in context, showing why it is being done and by whom. If you are interested in the course that American culture is taking, and why, then I highly recommend this book to you.