Hart is a published author and former writing teacher. In this essay, she examines Updike's descriptions of and references to women in order to explain why some readers think the author is a misogynist.

Some literary critics, even those who do not refer to themselves as feminists, have stated that John Updike, as represented through some of his writing (including Toward the End of Time) is a misogynist. As a matter of fact, there is a lot of reading material on the subject, including interviews in which Updike confronts this charge and does not quite conclude that his critics are in error.

Misogyny is the hatred of women. The Greek roots of this word are “misein,” which means “to hate,” and “gyne,” which means “woman.” Misogyny is hatred based on sex, and it can take many different forms, some more overt than others. In all, the prejudice...