Kate Manne

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Kate Alice Manne (born 1983) is an Australian philosopher, associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, and author. [1] Her work is primarily in feminist philosophy, moral philosophy, and social philosophy. [1]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Born in Australia in 1983, Manne grew up in Cottles Bridge, Victoria. [2] Her father Robert Manne was a political science professor at La Trobe University, and her mother Anne Manne (née Robinson) is an author. [2] [3]

Career

As an undergraduate, Manne studied philosophy, logic, and computer science, at the University of Melbourne (2001–2005), earning a BA (Honours) in philosophy. She received her PhD in philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006–2011). Her dissertation, Not by reasons alone, argued in part that "the practical reason is not a suitable master concept in ethics, let alone the only ethical notion we need." [4]

From 2011 to 2013, Manne was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. [1] [5] Since 2013, she has been at the Sage School of Philosophy, Cornell University, where she is an associate professor. [1] Prospect Magazine named Manne one of the world's top 50 thinkers of 2019. [6] On 16 May 2024, Manne and David Livingstone Smith of the University of New England were awarded the Lebowitz Prize by Phi Beta Kappa and the American Philosophical Association for an as yet unpublished presentation titled "Dehumanization and its Discontents". [7] [8]

Philosophical work

Manne has written articles in moral philosophy and metaethics, as well as three books, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny (2017), [9] Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women (2020), [10] and Unshrinking: How to face Fatphobia (2024). [11]

Down Girl proposes a distinction between sexism and misogyny. Manne argues that "sexism is an ideology that supports patriarchal social relations". [12] Sexism, then, accepts gender roles, and helps to reinforce them, by making them seem as if they were natural or given arrangements. In essence, sexism is a belief system. Misogyny can be understood as an effort to control and punish women "who challenge male dominance". [12] On this definition, misogyny is not necessarily about male hostility or hatred toward women, but more "the law enforcement branch of the patriarchy". [12] According to Manne, "Misogyny is a way women are kept in (patriarchal) order, by imposing social costs for those breaking role or rank, and warning others not to." [13] Manne coins the term "himpathy", which she defines as "the inappropriate and disproportionate sympathy powerful men often enjoy in cases of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, homicide and other misogynistic behavior". [14]

Manne's second book, Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women, explores male privilege. It proposes that male entitlement to sex, power, and knowledge has grave and deadly consequences for society at large, and women more specifically. [15] The book received mixed reviews. [16] Nesrine Malik of The Guardian praised it, writing, "with perspicacity and clear, jargon-free language, Manne keeps elevating the discussion to show how male privilege isn’t just about securing and hoarding spoils from women, but an entire moral framework." [17] Reviewing it for The Chronicle of Higher Education , Anastasia Berg criticized Manne for poorly interpreting the incel phenomenon. Berg argues that to claim that incels police the norms of the patriarchal order is "a gross simplification", since they perceive themselves as the victims of the patriarchal hierarchies that exclude them. Berg also questioned Manne’s "perception of continuity from mansplainer to murderer" and compared Manne's pessimism as well as her injunction not to bother with trying to convince those who are not already "of a similar mind" to the attitudes expressed on incel forums. [18]

Manne's 2024 book, Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia, was longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. [19]

Selected publications

Books

Articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Misogyny</span> Prejudice against, or hatred of, women

Misogyny is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practised for thousands of years. It is reflected in art, literature, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and religion worldwide.

Misandry is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against men or boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexism</span> Prejudice or discrimination based on a persons sex or gender

Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is intrinsically superior to another. Extreme sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence. Discrimination in this context is defined as discrimination toward people based on their gender identity or their gender or sex differences. An example of this is workplace inequality. Sexism refers to violation of equal opportunities based on gender or refers to violation of equality of outcomes based on gender, also called substantive equality. Sexism may arise from social or cultural customs and norms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nancy Cartwright (philosopher)</span> American philosopher of science

Nancy Cartwright, Lady Hampshire is an American philosopher of science. She is a professor of philosophy at the University of California at San Diego and the University of Durham. Currently, she is the President of the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology (DLMPST) of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology under the International Science Council (ISC).

Male privilege is the system of advantages or rights that are available to men on the basis of their sex. A man's access to these benefits may vary depending on how closely they match their society's ideal masculine norm.

Pro-feminism refers to support of the cause of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement. The term is most often used in reference to men who actively support feminism and its efforts to bring about the political, economic, cultural, personal, and social equality of women with men. A number of pro-feminist men are involved in political activism, most often in the areas of gender equality, women's rights, and ending violence against women.

Feminist theory in composition studies examines how gender, language, and cultural studies affect the teaching and practice of writing. It challenges the traditional assumptions and methods of composition studies and proposes alternative approaches that are informed by feminist perspectives. Feminist theory in composition studies covers a range of topics, such as the history and development of women's writing, the role of gender in rhetorical situations, the representation and identity of writers, and the pedagogical implications of feminist theory for writing instruction. Feminist theory in composition studies also explores how writing can be used as a tool for empowerment, resistance, and social change. Feminist theory in composition studies emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a response to the male-dominated field of composition and rhetoric. It has been influenced by various feminist movements and disciplines, such as second-wave feminism, poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, critical race theory, and queer theory. Feminist theory in composition studies has contributed to the revision of traditional rhetorical concepts, the recognition of diverse voices and genres, the promotion of collaborative and ethical communication, and the integration of personal and political issues in writing.

In feminist theory, kyriarchy is a social system or set of connecting social systems built around domination, oppression, and submission. The word was coined by Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992 to describe her theory of interconnected, interacting, and self-extending systems of domination and submission, in which a single individual might be oppressed in some relationships and privileged in others. It is an intersectional extension of the idea of patriarchy beyond gender. Kyriarchy encompasses sexism, racism, ableism, ageism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Catholicism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, classism, xenophobia, economic injustice, the prison-industrial complex, colonialism, militarism, ethnocentrism, speciesism, linguicism and other forms of dominating hierarchies in which the subordination of one person or group to another is internalized and institutionalized. Whenever the term is taken to encompass topics that were not and could not be addressed by the original theory, the kyriarchic aspects in emerging fields of study such as mononormativity, allonormativity, and chrononormativity are likewise included.

Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term patriarchy is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in feminist theory to describe a broader social structure in which men as a group dominate society.

Ethics is, in general terms, the study of right and wrong. It can look descriptively at moral behaviour and judgements; it can give practical advice, or it can analyse and theorise about the nature of morality and ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Gillard's misogyny speech</span> 2012 speech by Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard's misogyny speech was a parliamentary speech delivered by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in parliament during Question Time on 9 October 2012 in reaction to the opposition leader Tony Abbott accusing her of sexism.

The manosphere is a diverse collection of websites, blogs, and online forums promoting masculinity, misogyny, and opposition to feminism. Communities within the manosphere include men's rights activists, incels, Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW), pick-up artists (PUA), and fathers' rights groups. While the specifics of each group's beliefs sometimes conflict, they are generally united in the belief that society is biased against men due to the influence of feminism, and that feminists promote misandry, or hatred of men. Acceptance of these ideas is described as "taking the red pill", a metaphor borrowed from the film The Matrix.

The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxic" due in part to their promotion of violence, including sexual assault and domestic violence. Socialization of boys sometimes also normalizes violence, such as in the saying "boys will be boys" about bullying and aggression.

2017 in philosophy

Alpha male and beta male are pseudoscientific terms for men derived from the designations of alpha and beta animals in ethology. They may also be used with other genders, such as women, or additionally use other letters of the Greek alphabet. The popularization of these terms to describe humans has been widely criticized by scientists.

David Livingstone Smith is professor of philosophy at the University of New England. He gained his MA at Antioch University and a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of London where he worked on the philosophy of psychology. His research interests include self-deception, dehumanization, human nature, ideology, race and moral psychology. He won the 2012 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for non-fiction and was a speaker at the 2012 G20 Economic Summit at Los Cabos, Mexico.

Incel is a term associated with an online subculture of people who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one, and blame, objectify and denigrate women and girls as a result. The movement is strongly linked to misogyny. Originally coined as "invcel" around 1997 by a queer Canadian female student known as Alana, the spelling had shifted to "incel" by 1999, and the term later rose to prominence in the 2010s, following the influence of misogynistic terrorists Elliot Rodger and Alek Minassian.

<i>Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny</i> 2017 book by Kate Manne

Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny is a book by Kate Manne, treating misogyny in the tradition of analytic feminist philosophy. The book won the Association of American Publishers 2019 PROSE Award in Philosophy, as well as the overall 2019 PROSE Award for Excellence in Humanities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Men Going Their Own Way</span> Anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly online male-separatist community

Men Going Their Own Way is an anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly online community advocating for men to separate themselves from women and society, which they believe has been corrupted by feminism. The community is a part of the manosphere, a collection of anti-feminist websites and online communities that also includes the men's rights movement, incels, and pickup artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Misogynist terrorism</span> Terrorism motivated by the desire to punish women

Misogynist terrorism is terrorism that is motivated by the desire to punish women. It is an extreme form of misogyny—the policing of women's compliance to patriarchal gender expectations. Misogynist terrorism uses mass indiscriminate violence in an attempt to avenge nonconformity with those expectations or to reinforce the perceived superiority of men.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Kate A. Manne". Sage School of Philosophy. Cornell University. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Take Your Partner…Kate Manne". High Profiles. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  3. ↑ Doherty, Maggie (13 November 2019). "The Philosopher of #MeToo". Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  4. ↑ Manne, Kate Alice (May 2011). Not by reasons alone (Ph.D.). Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  5. ↑ "Kate Manne Vita" . Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  6. ↑ Team, Prospect. "The world's top 50 thinkers 2019" . Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "2024 Lebowitz Prize Awarded to Philosophers Kate Manne and David Livingstone Smith". Phi Beta Kappa . 16 May 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  8. ↑ "Manne awarded Lebowitz Prize, symposium appearance". The College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
  9. ↑ Weigel, Moira (20 December 2017). "Down Girl by Kate Manne review – #MeToo and the logic of misogyny". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  10. ↑ Szalai, Jennifer (12 August 2020). "'Entitled' Takes a Scalpel to What Men Feel They Automatically Deserve". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  11. ↑ "Unshrinking". Kirkus Reviews. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  12. 1 2 3 Illing, Sean (5 December 2017). "What we get wrong about misogyny". Vox. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  13. ↑ Manne, Kate (30 June 2016). "Kate Manne responds". Boston Review. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Feminism 101: What is Himpathy? – FEM Newsmagazine" . Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  15. ↑ Manne, Kate. "Entitled". Kate Manne. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "Book Marks reviews of Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women by Kate Manne". Book Marks. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  17. ↑ Malik, Nesrine (1 October 2020). "Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women by Kate Manne review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  18. ↑ Berg, Anastasia (2 December 2020). "We Deserve Better From Our Public Intellectuals". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "The 2024 National Book Awards Longlist". The New Yorker. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
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