It's a common misconception that sexism towards women is motivated by hatred of women and wanting them to suffer. Hell, people here often assume that sexism towards men works that way. Well, it doesn't. Racism was fueled by hating black people and wanting to ruin their lives. Same with homophobia, transphobia and even ableism. People hated black people and didn't view them as human. People hated gay people and thought they were sickos. People thought disabled people shouldn't be allowed to produce.

But men and women? There was never a hatred of the two. The Hostility Toward Women and Hostility Toward Men Scales just measure how harsh people can be towards one of the sexes but it doesn't determine if somebody straight up hates men or women. Feminists hate men, but feminism is an ideology. First, consider these ideas:

  • Most sexism towards women is benevolent sexism, not hostile sexism, and a lot of evidence shows that across the globe, hostility towards men is more common than hostility towards women. Most of the time when people think women shouldn't do certain things men can do, just like how they don't think men shouldn't do certain things women do, it has to do with social norms, not hatred of a certain gender. Sometimes, such as when women are not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia or unveil themselves, it has to do with believing women need to be protected and worrying they'd be catcalled or someone will harm them, and feminists always act like only women are in danger walking out at night, even though most street criminals typically harm men and often spare women. Most sexism towards women is kind, infantilizing sexism that cherishes them in a very protective but infantilizing manner. In fact, hatred of women was never the norm.
  • Gender roles were invented because of how people thought men and women should be in order to make our species prosper, not out of hatred for a certain gender. This is also why age roles exist. The reason gender roles became less of a necessity over time is because of society becoming more economically and medically advanced, such as higher population densities, low infant/maternal mortality rates, higher life expectancies, etc., not feminism. That's why so many "developing" countries have traditional gender roles, including in marriage. It's because they don't have the pill, high population densities, low maternal/child mortality, high life expectancy, etc.
  • Ageism works the same kind of way. A man named Robert Epstein wrote a book on how the underdeveloped brains of teens has to do with socialization and not biology, and how historically, teens were learning how to become adults and had adult responsibilities, and extending childhood to 18 and even restricting responsibilities for young adults caused irresponsibility and underdeveloped brains, not biology. He cites a lot of good evidence to back up what he says, and teens have more restrictions on their freedoms than even former prisoners. His book could even apply to early young adults now, too. Ageism towards the elderly also exists in healthcare, jobs, etc.
  • People have never exactly hated men and wanted them to suffer nor did people feel that way towards women. People can have harsher attitudes towards men and benevolent, infantilizing attitudes towards women but that has to do with gender roles based on how they believe men and women should be. Black people, on the other hand, were violently hated.
  • Ageism is a widely ignored phenomenon and it especially affects young people and elderly people.