I find it impossible to support the campaign, led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy, to make misogyny a “hate crime”.
How do you define misogyny? Like the concept of hate crime itself, it seems it can be anything that someone thinks it might be. Some feminists are saying that the tennis umpire Carlos Ramos displayed blatant misogyny (and possibly racism) when he gave Serena Williams a penalty point for an irregularity, and then another when she smashed her tennis racket on the court in a tantrum.
“Misogyny” can be a wolf-whistle, a cat-call, a harassment or a threat of rape, to which Ms Creasy says she is frequently subjected. But it is also sometimes seen behind a courteous gesture, such as offering a woman a seat on public transport. The former Irish president Mary McAleese has nominated the Catholic Church as the prime “carrier” of “the virus of misogyny” throughout the world.
