A review by bekacrook
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This book took me a long time to read as I had to pick it up and put it back down as it made me angry, horrified and upset simultaneously about the beliefs that people hold and how common it is. It's scary to think that people you are in contact with, friends of yours, colleagues, whatever could easily hold these views and be a part of these groups and forums online disguised behind their anonymity there. 

The book started at the most extreme end of the spectrum and I was simply horrified. I had some inkling about incels and their community but seeing the language used and the posts they make and the sheer normalcy of their hatred and views in their community is terrifying. At some points I genuinely gasped and felt like I wanted to cry out of shock and horror. 

Surprisingly the book began to get easier to read as she wrote about further up the chain, to the levels of misogyny that surround us on the daily. The kind of misogyny that we know and as awful as it sounds are familiar with and comfortable reading about because it's what we've been programmed to believe isn't a big deal and just a part of every day life. When I realised that was why I wasn't having such an extreme reaction to this and was finding it easier to digest I was shocked and then mad that I hadn't even realised or been aware of it. 

This book is the first book I've read on the topic of misogyny and the extremism that accompanies it and I feel like it was a good place to start and has made me aware of how much more there is for me to know and learn about. It did feel a bit repetitive at times but I suppose that comes with talking about a topic like this with the different links of the chain and how they influence each other. However it has definitely opened my eyes up further and has given me the urge to want to delve deeper into this topic again. 
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