I think Peg and others have answered the first question well - misogyny is prevalent in traditional music because misogyny was a prevalent attitude in the "olden days." So was racism, and it's easy to find old songs that express racist and misogynist attitudes.

I suppose people sometimes sing songs with outdated attitudes because they're good songs - and I'm sure that many good songs will be lost because they include attitudes that are no longer acceptable. I suppose we sometimes sing songs with outdated attitudes out of a healthy naughtiness, and I suppose some some people cling to some such songs out of true hatefulness.

I sometimes like to sing Flowers on the Wall and remember the pleasures of smoking cigarettes, but I stay away from the misogynist songs and tiptoe around the racism in Stephen Foster's songs while trying to avoid Bowdlerism.

-Joe Offer-