What’s the first thing you think of when someone mentions white men with podcasts? If you’ve been online recently, you probably think about two to three guys sitting in front of obnoxiously large microphones spewing misogynistic nonsense. This idea of white men with podcasts has become popular recently with people all over apps like TikTok parodying these types of podcasts. Many social media influencers have discussed the issues with what these men are saying, but why are they saying it?
First, we need to understand the history of misogyny, white men, and podcasts. According to Britannica, misogyny has been around since ancient times. For example, a lot of Greek mythology involves misogyny. In many of the old tales we may read in English class, we find sexism in many different forms such as men’s poor treatment of their wives, belittlement of young women, and constant judgment venomously hurled toward girls in these old tales. The actual term ‘misogyny’ was coined in the 17th century, and derived from the Greek words “misos” meaning “hatred”, and “gunē” meaning “woman.”
White men have been in power for many years. White people specifically have been on top of the metaphorical food chain and cannot help but assert dominance. Even in this category women are below white men. White men have been historically the oppressors in history. The Guardian talks more in-depth about the idea of whiteness and how dangerous that idea can be.
According to Descript podcasts go back to the early 2000s with IPodder. IPodder allowed people to download internet radio broadcasts and other audio content to their iPods. In 2005 Steve Jobs built podcast subscriptions into iTunes.
However, how do all these elements collide and how do we still have such old misogynistic thinking in the modern day? A lot of our traits are passed down from our parents, from our looks and personalities to even our behavior and beliefs. Pew Research Center did a study that found kids often share their parents’ beliefs since that’s the only thing the kids were taught. Of course, people are able to change their beliefs as they grow and learn more about themselves and start to lean away from their parents’ beliefs.
According to Slate, sexism starts in childhood. These ideas of gender norms are instilled into young children by their parents. They begin to follow these roles and fit into place. Eventually, these misguided children become misguided adults.
These misguided adults struggle in relationships due to their sexism. Women’s rights are a huge deal now, especially with things like Roe V Wade being overturned. Women have been trying to gain rights for centuries. Although sexism has decreased, it is still prevalent.
These sexist men struggle in our more modern society. A lot of these men can get called out online and made fun of harshly. To find a community, they begin podcasts. These feelings of ferocity towards women, I believe come from their upbringing but after facing the rejection of the real world they develop insecurity. This creates even more misogyny.
It can be hard, if not impossible, to change the minds of these men. You can try it’s not always a bad idea but sometimes you can’t change the minds of people who don’t open their minds up to be changed. These kinds of men are far too stubborn to admit when they are wrong. When these men go too far we can find ourselves with Andrew Tate types. Tate is a 37-year-old playboy and misogynist. Check up with your friends and check with your family. Make sure they aren’t hiding any secret podcasts and make sure they are not that one guy on the podcast who always agrees with the main guy with a head nod even though what he says makes no sense.
