I definitely agree with you about Vox not being 1950s level bigoted and I'm very tired of people exaggerating his bigotry because He Is A White Man From The 50s!!! He Must Be The Most Bigoted Man In Existence!!! But I would be curious to hear those thousands more words left in you about the topic 👀
In that case, I want to get into the misogyny and how Vox actually interacts with women a bit more. Because people will outright make things up - or at best, misrepresent their headcanons as actual canon - to complain about how misogynistic he is.
Quick aside, because I keep seeing people say Vox has "internalized misogyny": Internalized means self-directed. I was giving them the benefit of doubt that they meant what they said and just didn't realize the proper term for men is "toxic masculinity", because he does have some feminine traits. But the other day I saw someone say he has "internalized racism", so now I'm forced to accept that y'all are just using it wrong.
Moving on!
First, a few general misogynistic behaviors that Vox rarely or never exhibits:
Commenting on women's appearances: The closest he comes is when he introduces Velvette as his "lovely associate". Which is a genuinely inoffensive compliment, and also a pretty common turn of phrase. It's actually kind of impressive that he never uses this kind of language, considering the Vees' overall business model and the fact that both his partners are openly judgmental about people's bodies and clothes. (He does voice approval after Valentino describes the rally's dancers as "tens, plus one eight", and he seems to do at least some of the Vees' recruiting personally. But given everything in his environment says he could get away with such language and he still doesn't use it, I can only assume it's because he doesn't want to. It's plausible that he just separates his personal opinions from his business dealings).
Treating women as objects of desire: People literally think he's gay because he shows no interest in the women he interacts with. So no (he does have an issue with inappropriate touch, but this is gender-neutral coming from Vox. The contact is also never sexual, save for one instance where he smacks Val's butt. Val is a man, and also Vox's partner, so it's not quite the same as treating a woman he just met the same way *coughPilotAlastorcough*).
Expecting women to do gendered jobs: Vox never comments on the career choices of any woman he interacts with, questions their ability to do the work, or implies that they should be doing something else. The closest he comes is, "VoxTek loves women in STEM!" (which is pandering, but could also be true for all we know. We've hardly seen any of his tech staff, who knows what the gender distribution is).
Punishing women for assertive behavior: He does refer to Carmilla as a bitch once (not to her face), but he also lets Velvette snap at him and tell him what to do. He pushes back when Charlie gets mad at him at the hotel, but he's being deliberately antagonistic, and would have done the same thing if she was a man. He seems to have a problem with people, not behaviors.
Use of misogynistic insults like "bitch": He does do this, with both men and women. So does everyone around him. If this is all it takes, I guess Charlie is a misogynist too.
Use of patronizing language: Technically he does this with Velvette in the form of endearments (dear, sweetie), but they have a close relationship and she uses similar language with him, so for them it's genuine affection. On the other hand, he calls Katie "honey" while condescendingly telling her how to do her job, which might be the most misogynistic interaction he has with a woman in the entire show (he actually never talks down to Charlie like this, even when antagonizing her. His use of her title may not always be sincere, but he still uses it).
And here are the rest of the things Vox does that could be construed as misogyny:
Reacts with disgust when propositioned by Katie (though I'd argue he's just repulsed by her specifically)
Calls Carmilla a "strong woman", implying that most aren't (he's trying to talk her around to his side, not insult her, so this one is unintentional).
Tells Charlie there's "no need to get hysterical" after she calls him a monster (he's being a jerk on purpose).
That's it, that's the list. He panders, uses a few offensive words, and is condescending once. I cannot think of a single other instance where he says or does anything to a woman that he wouldn't to a man. And even if you include things he shouldn't be doing to either demographic, all you add is socially inappropriate but otherwise innocent touching. That isn't misogynistic, that's just a lack of boundaries.
He spent all of S2 slandering Charlie. If he was going to be misogynistic towards anyone, it would have been her. But while he does question her ability to do what she claims, it's for the valid reason of not having proof of redemption, not because of her gender. None of his lies about her are gendered. The only time he truly dismisses her as incompetent, he's comparing her to her mother, so her gender has nothing to do with her "failure".
The only conclusion I can draw in the face of overwhelming evidence is that he isn't a misogynist. And might even be the least misogynistic of the Vees. Or at least no worse than Velvette (Val's misogyny is hard to judge, mostly because he objectifies and sexualizes everything with a pulse).



















