Misogyny's rise no surprise when self-respect rejected

Miranda Devine says that Misogyny's rise no surprise when self-respect rejected. Her conclusion is that the violence against women is their own fault.

She concludes:

Why would a man respect a woman who doesn't respect herself, when most of society's traditional protections for women have been torn down, often by women themselves, in the name of freedom?

But freedom to flash your genitalia to the world is not liberating. It's just sad and ugly, reducing womanly allure to the level of a baboon and giving men no reason to behave well.

An adult is responsible for their own behaviour. Children are not. What Ms Devine describes is the behaviour of children: these are males of adult years but not maturity who assault and abuse women.

I think Ms Devine is touching several issues here:

• Women have responsiblity for their choices but men have no responsibility for their reactions;
• Traditional protection was good;
• Respect for ourselves automatically translates into respect by others

Responsibility

In the movie, Spartacus, there is this exchange after a woman slave is put into his cell:

Spartacus I am not an animal! I am not an animal!

Varinia Neither am I.

What separates us from the animals is that we can take responsibility for our actions. We are aware of the consequences and we make a conscious choice.

The way I read Ms Devine's article is that she absolves males of adult age of any responsibility for their actions. A woman gets punched so it is her fault for dressing that way:

There is a terrible misogyny abroad at the moment - that has men walk up to attractive female strangers in nightclubs and hit them - not hit on them but punch them in the head with their fists.

During schoolies week on the Gold Coast last month, for example, a 19-year-old man walking down Cavill Avenue king-hit pretty 18-year-old Natalie Montoya in the face, out of the blue, as she was standing on the corner with a group of girlfriends.

"F--- off, slut," he said, knocking her to the ground and leaving her with a swollen nose and bleeding face.

These are not men. These are not even animals. They are just ???? I am unable to describe them.

These are a problem for the male culture to resolve, not for women.

Traditional Protection

Ms Devines seems to opine for the good old days when women were protected because of the strong cultural ties.

She is unable to recall that women were raped, bashed, killed, multilated, insulted, demeaned, sold off into marriage. Indeed, the clothing of the Victorian Era did not stop Jack the Ripper.

Ms Devine forgets that with freedom comes risk.

Self-Respect

The canard that when we have self-respect, then others will respect us, afflicts all persecuted minorities: blacks, women, Catholics, black women, black Catholic women, etc.

Whether I respect someone else is up to me. This is not an automatic reaction on my part.

It is up to me to overcome my prejudice against you. You could have the most convincing arguments and be able to exhibit the greatest self-repect ever. But if I want to be an arsehole, then I will still be an arsehole until I stop being an arsehole.

What then is Feminism?

Feminism is simply a recognition of this dialogue:

Man I am not an animal!

Woman Neither am I.