Men are angry at women because they aren't doing what they are

In the words of Martha Nussbaum, “Men are angry at women because they aren’t doing what they are supposed to do, which is support men. They are in the workplace claiming their own rights and often outdoing men. They are daring to bring charges of sexual assault and harassment. They are just not behaving themselves!” we hear the unflinching voice of a philosopher who has spent her life uncovering the hidden architecture of oppression. Nussbaum exposes the fury that erupts when entrenched hierarchies are challenged. Her words are sharp, almost mocking, for they reveal that what is often described as “chaos” or “rebellion” is, in truth, the rising of women into their rightful dignity.

The origin of this truth lies in the long history of patriarchy, in which women were taught to serve, to be silent, to provide comfort and support without recognition of their own agency. For centuries, the role of woman was defined as subordinate, her identity tethered to the needs of men. But with education, with entrance into the workplace, with the courage to name injustice, women began to step out of that prescribed role. Nussbaum’s words capture the backlash: the rage of those who see the old order slipping away, who cannot bear that women are no longer “behaving” according to tradition.

History bears witness to this struggle. Consider the women of the American suffrage movement. For daring to demand the right to vote, they were mocked as “unfeminine,” as women who had abandoned their duty to husbands and homes. Men ridiculed them, insisting that political life was no place for women. And yet, by breaking the rules of “behavior” set for them, these women altered the course of a nation. Their defiance provoked anger, but it also cracked open the door of democracy for half of humanity.

Nussbaum’s words also echo in more recent times. The #MeToo movement revealed the same dynamic: when women dared to speak aloud of sexual assault and harassment, many men responded not with humility, but with anger. They accused women of exaggeration, of vindictiveness, of upsetting the natural order. But what was truly upset was not order, but privilege. For every story told stripped away the shield that had protected predators. Here again, women “misbehaved” by refusing silence—and in that defiance, they forged a new measure of justice.

The deeper meaning of Nussbaum’s teaching is this: that the anger of men is not a sign of women’s failure, but of their success. Whenever the oppressed rise, the oppressor will rage. The chains may rattle, but that is the sound of freedom approaching. When women excel in the workplace, when they demand equality, when they refuse to be silent about violence, they are not misbehaving—they are behaving at last as full human beings. The fury of those who resist is proof that the old order trembles.

But let us also see the danger. Anger can become violence; backlash can become repression. The road of liberation is not without peril. Nussbaum’s words are not meant only to inspire, but to warn: those who benefit from dominance will not relinquish it easily. Women must therefore not only act with courage, but also build solidarity, protect one another, and continue pressing forward until equality is not merely claimed but secured.

The lesson for us, O listener, is clear. Do not measure the justice of a movement by the comfort it brings to the powerful, but by the freedom it brings to the silenced. Support those who break the rules of unjust custom; honor those who refuse to “behave” when behaving means submission. If you are a woman, walk boldly in the light of your rights. If you are a man, do not cling to false superiority, but walk as a partner, honoring equality as strength, not threat.

As for practical action: in your workplaces, your homes, your communities, stand against harassment and silence. Lift the voices of women, especially when they are mocked or dismissed. Teach the next generation that respect is not servitude, that partnership is not dominance. And in your own heart, reject the poison of superiority, whether subtle or obvious. For only then will Nussbaum’s vision come true: a world where women live not as supporters of men, but as equals in the shared labor of humanity.

Thus, remember: when women are accused of “not behaving themselves,” it is often a sign that they are finally behaving as they should—free, fearless, and unafraid. And such behavior is not the downfall of society, but its salvation.