For centuries, men have benefited symbolically and materially from the societal dominance they established through brute force. Today, thanks to education and the massive entry of women into the workforce, they are—in many places—able to emancipate themselves and advance socially. But this aspiration for equality, of which the #MeToo movement is a global manifestation, does not pass without unleashing a corresponding rage of masculinity.

This book documents the fierce resistance to the gains of women's liberation movements. The author argues that intolerance, the rise of the new far right, Christian fundamentalism, and jihadism in some of its manifestations constitute a neurotic reaction to global women's liberation, which appears to threaten many of the foundations of patriarchy. These movements attempt to confine women to domestic duties and motherhood, denying them any rights outside the home. This investigation lays the foundations for the contemporary encyclopedia of misogyny.

Abram de Swaan is a Dutch writer and sociologist, born in 1942. He studied at

He has lived in the Netherlands and the United States, and has served as an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. He was also editor-in-chief of the cultural magazine "Al-Daleel" (The Guide). He founded and headed the Amsterdam School of Social Sciences Research, and is a member of the European Academy and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received several awards and published several books, including "Killing Chambers: The Mindset of Mass Murder" and "The Intelligence Chamber: Exterminating Regimes and Their Daughters."