Just in case you are wondering, my beautiful work at home job has engulfed me as of late; my mind has been so much into PHP/MySQL/Linux (I love open source software) that I haven’t been able to get my head around anything else. I have tendency to come and go, so get used it.

Anyway, the RQs constant reminders to not forget the feminine has been ringing loudly in my head for weeks though the topic has been in my head for years. I know this is a generalization, but one has to wonder: why do men still hate women?

Yes, I know the situation has changed. Women have more and better rights than they did forty years ago. More women now apply for school in the U.S. than men (in fact, there is a female glut for applications). Women are portrayed as strong and responsible to the point where men are seen as non-thinking shirkers. Yes, women, at least in this country, do have it better than they used to.

But…

We are not close to a women president (Hillary will present some major problems) and the female representation in Congress comes nowhere close to representing the population of women in the U.S.

Homicide kills more pregnant women than all natural causes combined.

It is okay for a women to act like a man, take a man’s name and wear men’s clothes. But men do not take on women’s names, crossdressing is considered humorous or worse to both men and women and for the most part accepting the feminine is something that couples keep between themselves. “Act like a man”, or “man up” is still advice most men give to other men. Advice to the contrary is never heard.

And then there are reproductive rights. The war on abortion is alive and making headway. Teenage prenancies are up because access to contraception has been restricted. Viagra and Cialis are money makers, but where is the “male pill”?

On the extreme end, Islamists, for the most part, want to keep women in the Dark Ages. Without going too far, I just don’t understand how a women’s body can be considered such an issue to the point where only a husband cans see it (yet the husband could defile another woman and blame the woman for the defilement). I really don’t know where to go on the Islamist view of females, but the hatred of women seems a given in their case. Of course there is also the situations in India and China, where girls are aborted in favor of males to the point where male populations has been skewed to 60% or more.

This may offer a clue. Perhaps, man’s hatred of women was ingrained over such a long period of time that it is difficult to expunge from our cultures. Society does not change overnight. Having said that, I do wonder where women’s issues are headed. Even those who benefit from feminism, deny its existence ( I am not one of those feminists!). I do not blame anyone; taking on an unpopular cause requires a strong personality that obviates many of the things we enjoy in life: friendship, normalcy and regular work-week.

I suppose I don’t have an answer that fits in this space. I could say that in light of the history of hatred women have faced, we should encouraged by the progress we have seen, but that is a cop-out.

I can give a short answer that I tell my white friends about racism. If you are a man, and you hate misogyny, talk to other men about it. Women can only do so much. The change must come from within.