Misandry is the
counterpart to
misogyny; it refers to an abiding emotion of
hatred or
spite for
male persons, or for the
masculine in general.
The word stems from the Greek root anner or ander, which means "man" in the specific sense of male humans. It should not be confused with misanthropy, which refers to hatred or spite felt for all humanity. The latter word stems from anthropos, another Greek word commonly translated as "man", but having the sense of any human person regardless of sex.
Common subtexts in popular misandry include the ideas that men are stupid, brutish, or violent; selfish, arrogant, or excessively proud; or excessively lustful and obsessed with sex. In the USA, the game of American football and the subculture surrounding it are frequently cited as an exemplar of these attributes.
Social commentator Robert Anton Wilson once remarked that just as Marx referred to antisemitism as "the socialism of fools," that misandry should be known as "the feminism of imbeciles." That is to say, the status of women can be better elevated without assailing men qua men; feminism is better served by creating and demonstrating equality than by casting aspersions.
The antonym of misandry is philandry, a word which should not be confused with philandering.