Of Women and Girls

A rather dilapidated photograph of me, probably aged about 11.

Title: Of Women and Girls

Misogyny – means woman hater.
Visible to all humankind.
Accepted as a consequence of patriarchy.
I’d say God help us!
But I don’t believe.
I never have.

First used in 1656; almost 500 years ago.
Its meaning only strengthened by time.
By advancing patriarchal systems.
By advancing capitalist policy.

Manifested through the arts and science.
Literature; societal structures.
Historical events.
Misogyny – it exists everywhere.
In all walks of life.
It affects everyone.

Domestic violence; abuse.
Sexual harassment.
Up skirting – Being ‘touched up’
Sex trafficking.
Terrorism.
Femicide.

I deserved it!
I deserved to be hit.
Said, too many times.
No woman deserves to be hit.
No woman.
Not ever.

Misogyny – reflected in cultural practices.
Social exclusion.
Entrenched behaviours.
Throughout time.
And it affects every single woman and
Every single girl on this planet

Subordinate positions.
Lack of power.
Women on women. Really!
Why?
Why do women hate women?
Or, is it the success they hate?

Patrilineal heritage.
A word my dictionary didn’t recognise.
A global phenomenon.
Oppressive patriarchal laws.
All to secure what?
Patrilineal heritage?

Misogyny – means woman hater.
Why not change the word and maybe change the rhetoric?
Philogeny – so infrequently used, my spellchecker didn’t recognise it.
I had to add it to the dictionary.
It got confused with phylogeny – the study of relationships between species.
Says a lot. Doesn’t it!

Philogeny – the love; fondness and admiration of women.
Misogyny. Depicting hate.
Just four little letters that could make the world such a different place for women and girls.
A safe world in which we can all live and grow.
If only we could change the rhetoric.
It’s easy to despair.