Can you spot an ‘extreme misogynist’?

Can you tell the difference between an extreme misogynist and a moderate misogynist? Hating women has always seemed, to me anyway, a rather extreme position on its own. The label ‘extreme misogynist’ is surely repetitive. A moderate misogynist is an oxymoron.

But then the Home Office announced this week that ‘extreme misogyny’ could be added to the list of ideologies the government monitors to tackle terrorism. I’ve been racking my brain, trying to figure out how the police would tell the extremists from the moderates. Does the extreme misogynist hold women in contempt all week long, while the moderate reserves his disdain for weekends? Does a mild misogynist simply begrudge us having the right to vote, rather than campaign to take it away?

It’s easy to understand why Home Office ministers are in a do-something mood. Look below tweets by Yvette Cooper or Jess Phillips and you will find some of the nastiest comments imaginable. It is the ugly reality for any woman in the public eye in the age of social media. The comments roll in, thousands at a time. ‘John’, age 62, usually has a profile that says he loves his country and is the proud grandad to three girls. He also hopes I rot in hell, dumb bitch, where I’ll learn to shut up and make Satan his supper.

No one likes ‘John’, or the countless others like him who make a hobby out of tweeting vile things at women. But there are good reasons why we defend the ugly speech that sits between free and friendly speech and threats of violence. One of them is that it’s simply impossible to choose who is going to decide what opinions are on the right side of the line.