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It is my honor to introduce this Special Issue on Misogyny: Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Misogyny, as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, refers to “a deep-seated hatred of women.” This term is commonly employed to characterize societal and cultural attitudes that perpetuate the vile and dangerous attitudes toward women that reflect this worldwide prejudice. Although a suddenly popular topic, misogyny is an exceptionally complex prejudice because women are half the world, and we are essential to the survival of humanity. We cannot just be removed or ignored. Thus, given the nature of male supremacy, aka the patriarchy, we are subjected to various vehicles of control instead of elimination, as we are needed. To date, we do not have adequate theories that account for this essential difference from all other prejudices.
Misogyny is a universal, fundamental, and perhaps even the original prejudice (Gilmore, 2009; Holland J., 2009). Bias against women, even hatred, and even femicide (Hackman, R. (2021)) is ubiquitous and tolerated globally. The systemic, individual, and intra-psychic forces that hold male supremacy and, therefore, female inferiority in place have become a familiar, controversial, and sometimes inflammatory subject. Current popular literature and film reflect our preoccupation with addressing this prejudice (Atwood, 1985; Bates, 2021; ; Caplan, 2005; Doyle, 2019; Hill, 2020; Snyder, 2019; Taylor, 2017; Walker et al., 2012; Zimmerman, 2020; Zuckerberg, 2019). Many academics have also written about misogyny (Chamberlain, M. 2022; Chesler, 1994, 2009, 2011; Creed, 1993; Garcia, 2023; Manne, 2019, 2021; Morgan, 2014, 2019; Fischel-Wolovick, L., 2018; Kleinman, T. G., & Pollack, D., 2017; Gilligan, 2018, 2021; Rose, J., 2019, 2022; Tutter, 2023; Tuerkheimer, D. 2021; Messina, 2019). Given the current backlash against women's rights, it should come as no surprise that any discussion of gender equality, in both public and private life