Cryptogyny is the recurring phenomenon, throughout history and in most

cultures Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, of hiding

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

and female references in different spheres of society, especially the most prestigious ones.

History

To name this practice, the poet and philologist Begonya Pozo and the philologist Carles Padilla, both senior lecturers at the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

, coined the term 'cryptogyny' and publicly disseminated it for the first time on February 5, 2020, in an article published in a digital diary. On November 27 of the same year, the Valencian Academy of Language approved its incorporation into the Valencian Normative Dictionary. Later, on March 8, 2021, the Basque dictionary Elhuyar Hiztegia included the Basque adaptation . In other languages, such as Spanish and French, although the term has not yet been made official, it has already been used ( and , respectively) in academic fields and on social networks. In France, for example, in the 2021–2022 academic year, an inter-university seminar on

Catalan literature Catalan literature (or Valencian literature) is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The focus of this article is not just the literature of Catalonia, but literature written in Catalan from anywhe ...

was organized with the title , about the Catalan-speaking authors

Felícia Fuster Felícia Fuster i Viladecans (7 January 1921 – 3 March 2012) was a Spanish painter, poet and translator. Born in Barcelona, she moved to Paris in 1951. She was finalist for the Premi Carles Riba in 1984 and Premi Màrius Torres in 1997, and sh ...

and Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas.

Terminology

The term 'cryptogyny' is made up of two Greek lexemes, ''crypto'' ('hide, hide') and ''gyné'' ('woman') that are part of other words, generally cultism, in Catalan and other languages. In fact, the Italian equivalent (the corresponding noun and adjective: cryptogyny or crittogynia and criptogina) can be found in some biology texts in reference to species in which the female or female organs are not externally visible. For example, the mealybug ''Suturaspis archangelskyae'' is described as "cryptogenic" and the 1839 Panlessico Italiano dictionary included the term crittogynia (with the synonym cryptogynia) to describe an aquatic fern in which the sporangium is hidden. In the scientific field, the minimization or concealment of research and discoveries carried out by female researchers, known as the "

Matilda effect The Matilda effect is a bias against acknowledging the achievements of women scientists and inventors whose work is attributed to their male colleagues. This phenomenon was first described by suffragist and abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage ( ...

", is a case of cryptogyny. By coining the term, Pozo and Padilla wanted to name a phenomenon that was well known in the history of science and in the history of women, because "social conscience is satisfied with actions and omissions, with silences and with words: what is not included in the dictionary apparently does not exist". They consider that the concealment of women's achievements or their underestimation has been symbolic violence that has continued over time.

References

{{reflist Women's history Feminist theory 2020 neologisms Misogyny

History

Terminology

See also

References