I Hate Men

by Pauline Harmange

Boys will be boys. Girls, on the other hand, will become women, and will learn to make their peace with this,

Apparently, what with all this feminist bullshit, #MeToo and the rest of that crap, it’s very hard to be a man nowadays. They don’t know how to flirt any more, how to get in a lift with their female colleagues, how to crack a joke. What do they still have the right to do now?

Ultimately, misandry is a principle of precaution. Having spent so much time being at best disappointed and at worst abused by men –

There’s a whole world of difference between ‘understanding the mechanisms of oppression and one’s own place in the system’, and ‘appropriating it in order to take centre stage and make it all about yourself yet again’.

What we want is for men to put their power and privilege to good use: by policing their male friends and acquaintances,

As it happens, I’m pretty certain that were I to find myself single tomorrow, it would be very difficult for me to begin a new relationship with a man. I’d never have the energy to start all over again with someone I didn’t know, and I’d be a lot less tolerant today about things that used to seem perfectly natural, and apparently still do for plenty of men (and women), that my partner and I have worked hard together to deconstruct.

As long as there are misogynistic men who don’t give a damn, and a culture that condones and encourages them, there will be women who are so fed up

Only someone in a position of dominance can permit himself to be calm and reasonable in any circumstance, because he’s not the one who is suffering. It’s a choice not to hear the emotions

Having the same level of confidence in ourselves as a mediocre man has in himself would also mean being kinder to ourselves.

It turns out, in fact, that single women who don’t have children are the happiest demographic of all.

From now on I’ve decided that my priority is to commit to being a genuine ally to the women I know.

Instead I privilege this sisterhood, which is so supportive, which nourishes me – in my creativity, my radicalism, my thinking both about myself and about society – in so many areas of my life, where, I’ve finally realised, I have no need of men to shape the person I am.

Gatherings of women are like a witches’ Sabbath.

Because female solidarity is never frivolous, it’s always political.

I Hate Men has been described as light and not remotely radical. I agree.

Soon the patriarchy will topple and we shall dance among the ruins of the old order.