Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Thought of the Day

Never confuse Paternalism with misogyny. Neither is good, but they are not identical.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is interesting. I agree they are not identical. That they are not coextensive is one way of noting the non-identity (someone can act paternalistic toward a man, for example). Though I do think paternalism is often implicated in misogyny. Women have been considered child-like since at least Aristotle, and Plato saw them as incomplete men.

So how do you think the one is implicated in the other? How do you think they differ? Is there misogyny that is not paternalistic?

Comrade Kevin said...

To be frank, I think it depends on the context and the speaker.

As for misogyny that is not paternalistic, I can't imagine that anything which is patently and unequivocally full of hatred could be paternalistic. I think paternalism can be used to justify misogyny in instances like that.