Editorial Issue 5: Why 2022’s Misogynistic Discourses Require a Closer Inspection

Photo Courtesy: Gender IT Opensource

In western societies, women's rights have undeniably progressed since the beginning of the previous century. With voting rights entrenched and shifts in women’s societal ‘roles’, the path seemed to be heading towards a brighter direction. However, with the ban on abortion rights in the US, the rising misogynistic culture online, and the lack of basic rights for women across the globe, 2022 seemed at odds with the improvement of the past decades.

Social media has both promoted and hindered the spread of misogynistic discourses. The stream of information flowing from countries where women have been silenced, such as Afghanistan and Iran, has provided a platform where the experiences of these women can be heard publicly. In Iran’s case, social media played a pivotal role in keeping the protests alive both internally and on the global scale, showing insights from what the citizens were experiencing and how they were trying to combat the regime. For those of us living in the Western world, social media painted a stark picture of the realities that women under such repressive regimes were experiencing- something that we, as a global community, could not ignore and had to bring into the public debate. 

In parallel to this, rampant and unpoliced hate discourse against women has risen and spread across social platforms. 2022 saw the rise of Andrew Tate- now being charged with human trafficking- who’s most attentive viewership was that of young, teenage boys. Although eventually removed from most platforms, this case revealed that there was no means of reporting sexist rhetoric, nor was it monitored or removed by social media firms. Tate was symbolic of the wider exclusion of sexism from the arena of discriminatory language and his rise revealed how little attention most people paid to misogynistic language. 

The lack of regulation on apps such as Instagram, Twitter and even the heavily monitored TikTok has created an environment where sexism thrives. This puts women at risk both off and online. British data from 2022 suggests that increasingly more men have been joining incel movements since 2016, which are typified by their use of violent language towards women. Not only does this make the internet a pawn used for spreading misogyny further, but it also creates a community that feels connected through hatred and women’s demise. 

This problem is not uniquely British, however. France’s annual report on the state of sexism by the High Council of Equality shows a worrying trend: sexism is not declining, and its manifestations are increasingly violent. Younger generations of men display more misogynistic mindsets and behaviours than older generations; and younger generations of women mention more experiences of sexism, however, this could be due to greater awareness of what constitutes sexist behaviours.

This rising misogyny in younger men is expressed through sexist views and representations of gender roles and women’s bodies. While 79% of men aged 65 and over consider that the image of women conveyed by pornography is problematic, only 48% of men between 15 and 34 would agree with that statement - a worrying view when considering how pornography conveys “male dominance and female subordination” in “an arena in which direct violence is sanctioned and routinized”. Nearly a quarter of men aged 25-34 years old (23%) consider that one sometimes have to make use of violence to be respected (while the average is 11%). Similarly, 20% of men aged 25-34 consider that to be respected as a man, one must brag about their sexual conquests (while the average is 8%).

These sexist mindsets, reinforcing gender roles, pave the way for acts of violence in the public and private spheres. In 2021, the UK branch of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women published a survey on sexual harassment and its reporting in the UK. In it, we can see a 7% increase in the percentage of women having experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public place between 2016 and 2021, with 86% of women aged 18-24-year-olds experiencing them, against an average of 71%.

Sexist acts against women seem to be increasingly affecting younger women and becoming more violent, as can be seen by surging femicides in Italy. In Spain, the murder of six women and one girl at the beginning of January led to an emergency meeting of experts on domestic violence to be called, at a time when the Spanish Government considers proposals to inform women victims of domestic violence of their partners’ previous convictions.

Indeed, the relationship between the police and judiciary system is essential in changing attitudes, reducing violence, and helping victims. However, official figures show that while England and Wales hit a record-high number of sex offences for the year ending in March 2022, only 6% of all crimes result in charges, a percentage dropping by 7.3% from the previous year. Similarly, reports show that the police, in England and Wales, fails to “track repeat suspects” but also does “explicit victim-blaming” and “botched investigations”. This comes at a time when the Metropolitan Police misogynistic culture is under harsh scrutiny  after the murder of Sarah Everard by a Met Police officer in late 2021.

These figures, combined with now regular reports of predatory behaviour among male police officers, leave us with little optimism for the future. The combination of a misogynistic public discourse and a failing legal system  creates an environment where sexism can be integrated into daily life. Without greater awareness of growing misogynistic behaviour, the future will continue to look as bleak as the past.

Editorial Contributors: Kate Peacock and Camille Koebel