things to think about:

• Misogynists do not care about women who they don’t find attractive. Their only reason for ever interacting with a woman is so they can get something (usually sexual favours) out of her.
• Denji treats every woman in the story with the same level of basic respect (save for that one demon who was literally trying to kill him, but I don’t think we should count demons anyway)
• However— the reason Denji agreed to work with Power and Himeno, and work for Makima, was because they promised him sexual favours in return.
  • Denji never enjoyed any of these favours, though. He felt empty after touching Power’s breasts and disgusted after kissing Himeno (and panicked during both acts). it’s almost like he didn’t actually want these things as much as he believed he did.
  • we know that Makima is extremely good at manipulating people. She does so by quickly assessing what these people want and how they view themselves, then feeding into these perceptions and desires. Her assessment of Denji was, fittingly, horny teenage boy, so she further fed into his belief that sex is all he could ever want— the difference is that she twisted it, convincing him that sex with her would make him feel fulfilled.
• Denji is very impressionable. He readily agrees to do nearly anything without giving much thought to what he actually wants
  • this leads me to believe that somehow, someone convinced him from an early age that he wants sexual favours from women, that that should be his main goal in life, when in reality… he doesn’t care for it much.
• We know nothing about Denji’s parents, except that his dad died when Denji was very young, leaving him indebted to the Yakuza. His mother is never even mentioned.
• Once we get past the weird sexual acts early on in the story, Denji’s relationships with Power and Himeno become more… wholesome, though I hesitate to use that word for Himeno.
  • He strikes a deal with Himeno to help her get together with Aki, the way friends would agree to wingman for each other, though the effect of that is kind of ruined when Himeno agrees to help Denji get with Makima. It doesn’t make me feel icky because of Denji, funnily enough, but it does make me disgusted at Himeno (who already didn’t like and/or trust Makima, so wtf is she thinking here)
  • He becomes best friends with Power. They feed each other, sleep in the same bed, even shower together, but Denji never tries to initiate anything with her again. He loves her and cherishes her in a totally platonic way (misogynists don’t do this)
• Later, Denji’s relationships with Reze and Asa (if we can ignore the girlies murderous tendancies) are also much better— sure, he wants to date them, but gone are the weird sexual advances.

my conclusion (for now): Denji is not a misogynist. he partakes in misogynistic actions because he has been conditioned into thinking that’s what he wants, but quickly he realises it's not what he wants at all. how would he have moved on if Makima hadn't convinced him that he wants more? well… we start to see exactly how, in the second arc.