They don't have much in common. One (misandrism) is the hatred of men or the making men feel bad about themselves. The other (feminism) has to do with advocating equal rights for women and the studying of gender inequality to promote women's rights, interests, and issues. To me, one sounds rather positive and forward thinking and the other sounds more like total negativity towards men and going nowhere fast.

Why on earth are you asking this sort of deep meaningful question when I've had three glasses of Scotch. At the moment I neither know, nor care. Actually, in the morning I'm sure I'll be of the same mind, I just won't have to hit the backspace key so often.

Feminism is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes, whereas misandrism is hatred of men. I suspect so many people mistake the two because, 1.) many of those people don't know the word "misandrist" or what it means, or that it's different than "feminist", and 2.) because there are a few misandrists out there labeling themselves "feminists", thereby giving the ignorant a poor idea of feminists in general.

People notice that many feminists, although never actually saying "I hate men" obviously hate men. They make it clear by their attitude, tone, and words where they blame and accuse males constantly. Feminists have earned the reputation of being man-haters by actually being man-haters.

Feminism is ostensibly about equality. However, feminism couldn't have earned and kept its reputation for man-hating if it didn't happen on a regular basis. Feminists have earned their reputation for misandry based on years of non-stop practice. And those who don't seem to approve of those who do. Or at least look the other way.

ask rush limbaugh for that answer.

Feminism -- wanting equal rights and standards for men and women; Misandrism -- hate of men. I think it is usually either because of ignorance on what feminism is, or because they are against feminism, so they try to equate the two.

Because so many feminists hold and express harshly negative views of men and boys.   For example, I have been having a vigorous debate with a feminist who insists that girls and women are superior to boys and men (no joke) and that research supports her position. She argues that the government should do nothing to to help young boys because they are not smart, are disruptive, lack motivation, and are lazy. That's misandry.

I'm not sure many people do mistake the two. . I think some, like the likes of Rush, intentionally cast feminism and all feminists as nut crunching man haters and it works with his audience because they tend to be angry men who prefer their world view simple with catchy buzzwords like Feminazi. But there's no mistake there - I think Rush is smart enough to know the difference and the audience is intentionally ignorant. . Then there are those, like Dworkin, who probably are nut crunching man haters and as in any movement or philosophy- and angry extreme tends to be much louder and get more press than the more representative moderates. +5

Because they seem to come in the same person. Most misandrists also turn out to be feminists.

You have to admit - it's a pretty convenient confusion between the two terms, isn't it? Feminists are pigeon-holed as man-hating radical socialist lesbians and what-have you, quite simply because they reject patriarchal authority. Rather, feminists push for equality between the sexes in the political, economic, and social spheres (and believe me when I say that none of these three are exclusive to the others - they are quite finely woven together) so that it is not always the (white) man who comes out on top. And because, as I'm sure you've heard, feminists are "angry." But what are we angry about? The dominant patriarchal social/economic/political structure that systematically devalues women. Anger is really the interesting issue, though. What is so bad about feminists being angry? What's wrong with that? I'll tell you: anger is an appropriate response where one feels that one has been wronged somehow. It is appropriate for women to be angry within a patriarchal system because, quite frankly, women are oppressed. They have been for thousands of years, and they are now. Granted, we have made *ENORMOUS* leeway within the last hundred or so years, but we still have not achieved true equality. We are still oppressed in very subtle ways (ask me how and I'll elaborate). But back to the anger issue: why is it such a bad thing for a feminist to also be angry? There is this strange implied cultural phenomenon where it is quite simply inappropriate for women/girls to get angry because it is a sign of aggression - whereas with men it is more acceptable (we're talking about rational anger here - where someone has been genuinely wronged. Also, I might point out that with men it is less acceptable to display sadness, but that's not really the point here and if you want to hear more on my opinions of that, just ask). If you're a woman, you know what I'm talking about: you get angry and someone says something along the lines of "you're being too emotional," or "you're overreacting," or my personal favorite, "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Even when the anger is absolutely justified. So there's this: feminists are angry about being oppressed within the patriarchy, so to react against it, they reject it. Being angry with a social institution does not translate into anger at all men on an individual level, nor does it translate into hatred of them. It just translates into, as I said, rejecting the institution where men come out on top all the time. Though, to be sure, the anger is often mistaken for hatred - and I think that is why feminism is mistaken so often for misandry, even though the two, while far from mutually exclusive (there are certainly women out there, surely some of them feminists, who do indeed hate men - just as there are plenty of misogynists out there), do not go hand in hand nor do they define one another. You can hate men and not be a feminist. You can be a feminist and not hate men. (I am a very staunch feminist who LOVES men and gets along with them quite well).

The same reason people mistake one identical twin for the other. They look, act, and sound the same.

Misandrism is reverse sexism. Feminism is equlity for both genders