Woman Hating, by Andrea Dworkin

Andrea Dworkin’s Woman Hating is an early radical feminist book that looks at how misogyny is built into Western culture. Dworkin argues that women learn from a young age—through fairy tales, religion, and social norms—that they are meant to be passive, obedient, and available to men. She shows how these stories and institutions shape what women can do and how they are treated.

A striking part of the book is her discussion of people who don’t fit traditional gender roles. Dworkin connects the persecution of witches, lesbians, and gender nonconforming people to the same patriarchal system that punishes women for stepping outside their assigned place.

The book ends with a call for deep social change: not just equal rights on paper, but a complete overhaul of the systems and stories that keep women subordinate. Woman Hating is both critique and rallying cry, aimed at breaking apart the cultural patterns that teach us to accept women’s oppression as natural.

Join us for our discussion of this great book! We loved it.