Gynocentrism is a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice. Anything can be gynocentric when it is considered exclusively with a female or feminist point of view in mind. The opposite practice, placing the

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some beh ...

point of view at the centre, is androcentrism.

Etymology

The term ''gynocentrism'' is derived from

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

, γυνή and κέντρον. Γυνή can be translated as ''woman'' or ''female'', but also as ''wife''. In ancient Greek compounds with γυνή, the stem γυναικ- is normally used. This stem can be spotted in the genitive case γυναικός, and in the older form of the nominative case γύναιξ. In ancient Greek, no compounds are known to exist with γυνή that start with γυνο- or γυνω-. The ancient Greek word κέντρον can be translated as ''sharp point'', ''sting (of bees and wasps)'', ''point of a spear'' and ''stationary point of a pair of compasses'', with the meaning ''centre of a circle'' related to the latter. The meaning ''centre/middle point (of a circle)'' is preserved in the Latin word ''centrum'', a

loanword A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...

from ancient Greek. The English word ''centre'' is derived from the Latin ''centrum''. The word κέντρον is derived from the verb κεντεῖν, meaning ''to sting (of bees)'', ''to prick'', ''to goad'', and ''to spur''. When trying to explain etymologically the term ''gynocentrism'', it is important to consider the ancient Greek κέντρον, with the signification ''middle point/centre'', and not the more obvious ancient Greek word κεντρισμός (mirroring ''-centrism'').

History

The term gynocentrism has been in use since at least 1897 when it appeared in The Open Court stating that Continental Europeans view Americans "as suffering rather from gynocentrism than anthropocentrism." In 1914, author George A. Birmingham found American social life to be "gynocentric"; it was "arranged with a view to the convenience and delight of women." Beginning with

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades, ending with the feminist sex wars in the early 1980s and being replaced by third-wave feminism in the early 1990s. It occurred ...

in the 1970s, the term gynocentrism has been used to describe

difference feminism Difference feminism is a term developed during the equality-versus-difference debate in American feminism to describe the view that men and women are different, but that no value judgment can be placed upon them and both sexes have equal moral s ...

, which displayed a shift towards understanding and accepting gender differences, in contrast to equality feminism.

In contemporary society

The

Men Going Their Own Way Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW ) is an anti-feminist, misogynistic, mostly online community that espouses male separatism from what they see as a gynocentric society that has been corrupted by feminism. MGTOW specifically advocate for men ...

(MGTOW) community describes themselves as a backlash against the "misandry of gynocentrism". According to University of Massachusetts philosopher Christa Hodapp, in modern men's movements gynocentrism is described as a continuation of the

courtly love Courtly love ( ; ) was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and performing various deeds or services for ladies b ...

conventions of medieval times, wherein women were valued as a quasi- aristocratic class, and males were seen as a lower serving class. This viewpoint describes

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

as the perpetuation of oppressive medieval conventions such as devotional chivalry and romanticized relationships, rather than as a movement towards liberation. J. Lasky has characterized gynocentrism as a potential response to androcentrism,Lasky, J. (2023). Gynocentrism. ''Salem Press Encyclopedia''. and that gynocentrism has been used as an argument by anti-feminists, who believe that gynocentrism is anti-male. In a 2019 study of Trinidad society published in the ''Justice Policy Journal'', researchers concluded that "gynocentrism pervades all aspects of the criminal justice system."

Criticism

Christina Hoff Sommers has argued that gynocentrism is anti-intellectual and holds an antagonistic view of traditional scientific and creative disciplines, dismissing many important discoveries and artistic works as masculine. Sommers also writes that the presumption of objectivity ascribed to many gynocentrist theories has stifled feminist discourse and interpretation. Feminist writer Lynda Burns alleges that gynocentrism is a manification of celebration of women's positive differences—of women's history, myths, arts and music—as opposed to an assimilationist model privileging similarity to men. However observed in practice, the preeminence of women associated with gynocentric narratives is often seen as absolute: interpersonally, culturally, historically, politically, or in broader social contexts such as popular entertainment. As such, it can shade into what Rosalind Coward called "womanism... a sort of popularized version of feminism which acclaims everything women do and disparages men". In the 2006 book ''Legalizing Misandry'' religious studies professors Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young claim that feminist calls for equality or equity are a subterfuge for gynocentrism. Nathanson and Young state that ideologically, the overriding focus of gynocentrism is to prioritize women hierarchically, and as a result may be interpreted as

misandry Misandry () is the hatred of or prejudice against men or boys. Earliest recorded use: 1885. "No man whom she cared for had ever proposed to marry her. She could not account for it, and it was a growing source of bitterness, of misogyny as wel ...

(hatred of and prejudice towards men). They claim that gynocentrism as a worldview has become de rigueur in law courts and government bureaucracies, resulting in systemic discrimination against men. They define gynocentrism as a form of

essentialism Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their Identity (philosophy), identity. In early Western thought, Platonic idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an Theory of forms, "idea" or "f ...

as it focuses on the innate virtues of women and the innate vices of men. According to Margrit Eichler gynocentrism can be seen as sexist bias in social science research.

References

External links