Reading the Australian Feminist Review (AFR for short) and there are four – count them – four articles on misogyny. To me it seems to reveal a certain state of mind. The dread dangers of misogyny are being displayed across the paper:

on page 2: “MacMisogyny with fries” by Jennifer Hewitt;

on page 3: “Defining moment in war of words” by Gemma Daley;

on page 67 “Rural blokes lap up Julia’s bit of biffo” by former Labor Senator John Black;

and the pièce de résistance, on page 66 “The ugliness of misogyny” by Susan Sheridan.

The killer quote from Ms Sheridan, taken from Germaine Greer, is this:

Women have very little idea how much men hate them.

No man I have ever known has expressed nor shown a hatred of women, not ever. But in discussing over the past week this business about misogyny with quite a number of women of my acquaintance, the amazing part is that what is much closer to reality is this:

Men have very little idea how much women hate them.

Sheridan equates misogyny with racism – “the parallel with racism is clear” – and calls Tony Abbott a misogynist, in her eyes a completely damning characterisation. And why is he so? Because all men are equally guilty of this same crime:

Because he inhabits a culture with a long tradition of hatred and fear of women – and he reflects that culture. He mirrors it, as Prime Minister Julia Gillard so rightly said.

Of course, the parallel with racism is complete nonsense. Men and women live together, raise children together and have daughters for whom their fathers want to ensure the finest possible outcomes that they can assist in bringing about. Not much of a parallel with Nazis and Jews, is it?

My thanks to the AFR for bringing these views to our attention.

How behind the times our PM is: Just found this from The Daily Express Online. The title is “Feminism is over . . . say women”. Here is the most interesting passage especially given Ms Sheridan’s views:

FEMINISM in the modern world is viewed as outdated and aggressive and is being shunned by women, research has found. . . .

They believe single mother turned multi-millionaire author JK Rowling is a better example of a strong independent role model than feminist icon Germaine Greer.

In fact, almost a third (28 per cent) of British women describe the radical feminism of Ms Greer as ‘too aggressive’ towards men and a quarter no longer view it as a positive label for women.