Philogyny is love of, admiration for, or respect for women or girls. It is the

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''even'' entails that it is not ''odd''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members i ...

of ''

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

''. It is a form of

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

and philosophy that empowers and celebrates women at an equal status as men, thus dismantling the social roles of patriarchy and supremacy. Philogyny has been widely practiced for thousands of years. It is reflected in

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, human societal structure, historical events, mythology, philosophy, and

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

worldwide. An example of philogyny is women's empowerment, the promotion of women, #hypewomen, which includes domestic bliss by equal share of household responsibilities and, in its most greatest possible forms, philogynist stability, female sovereignty,

autonomy In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be ...

and

dignity Dignity is a human's contentment attained by satisfying physiological needs and a need in development. The content of contemporary dignity is derived in the new natural law theory as a distinct human good. As an extension of the Enlightenment- ...

. Philogyny also often operates through financial, economic and political advancement, affirmative action, quotas, equal representation in government, science based research and psychological techniques aimed at empowering women, and by legally or socially including women of all the benefits of full citizenship. In all cases, philogyny rewards women for accepting an equal, equitable and sovereign status. Philogyny can be understood both as an attitude held by individuals and as a widespread cultural custom or system. Sometimes philogyny manifests in obvious and bold ways; other times it is more subtle or disguised in ways that are not recognized as such. In feminist thought, philogyny also includes the acceptance of feminine and “unfeminine” qualities. It holds in respect institutions, work, hobbies, or habits associated with women. It accepts any aspects of women that are seen as feminine or unmanly, as well as any attributes seen as unwomanly or masculine because of the acknowledgement that previously women used the techniques to break into certain elements of society unavailable to them. Racism and other prejudices are dismantled when we focus on philogyny. Philogyny is not to be confused with

gynephilia In behavioral science, androphilia and gynephilia are sexual orientations: Androphilia is sexual attraction to men and/or masculinity; gynephilia is sexual attraction to women and/or femininity. Ambiphilia describes the combination of both androp ...

, which is

sexual attraction Sexual attraction is attraction on the basis of sexual desire or the quality of arousing such interest. Sexual attractiveness or sex appeal is an individual's ability to attract other people sexually, and is a factor in sexual selection or m ...

to women or

femininity Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and Gender roles, roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as Social construction of gender, socially constructed, and there is also s ...

Historical usage

Classical Greece

One of the earliest examples of philogyny is the poet

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

who was an

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

poet from the island of

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

. Sappho is known for her

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

, written to be sung while accompanied by a

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

. In ancient times, Sappho was widely regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets and was given names such as the "Tenth Muse" and "The Poetess". Sappho was a prolific poet, probably composing around 10,000 lines. Her poetry was well-known and greatly admired through much of

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

, and she was among the canon of Nine Lyric Poets most highly esteemed by scholars of

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

Alexandria. Sappho's poetry is still considered extraordinary and her works continue to influence other writers. Beyond her poetry, she is well known as a symbol of love and desire between women, with the English words ''sapphic'' and ''lesbian'' being derived from her own name and the name of her home island respectively. Whilst her importance as a poet is confirmed from the earliest times, all interpretations of her work have been coloured and influenced by discussions of her sexuality. Most of Sappho's poetry is now lost, and what is extant has mostly survived in fragmentary form; two notable exceptions are the "

Ode to Aphrodite The Ode to Aphrodite (or Sappho fragment 1) is a lyric poem by the archaic Greece, archaic Greek poet Sappho, who wrote in the late seventh and early sixth centuries BCE, in which the speaker calls on the help of Aphrodite in the pursuit of a bel ...

" and the

Tithonus poem The Tithonus poem, also known as the Old age poem or (with fragments of another poem by Sappho discovered at the same time) the New Sappho, is a poem by the archaic Greek poet Sappho. It is part of fragment 58 in Eva-Maria Voigt's edition of ...

. Christian Groes-Green has argued that the conceptual content of philogyny must be developed as an alternative to the concept of misogyny. Criticizing

R.W. Connell Raewyn Connell (born 3 January 1944), usually cited as R. W. Connell, is an Australian feminist sociologist and professor emerita at the University of Sydney, mainly known for co-founding the field of masculinity studies and coining the concep ...

's theory of hegemonic masculinities he shows how philogynous masculinities play out among youth in

Maputo, Mozambique Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

.Groes-Green, C. 2012. "Philogynous masculinities: Contextualizing alternative manhood in Mozambique". Men and Masculinities 15(2):91–111. http://jmm.sagepub.com/content/15/2/91

Etymology

''Philogyny'' comes from ''philo-'' (loving) and Greek ''gynē'' (woman). The parallel

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

-based terms with respect to men (males) are philandry for "fondness of men" and

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 ...

for "hatred of men". Parallel terms for humanity generally are

and

misanthropy Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, or distrust of the human species, human behavior, or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. Misanthropy involves a negative evaluative attitude t ...

Psychological impact

Internalised philogyny

Women who experience internalized philogyny may express it through amplifying the value of women, trusting women, and disbelieving gender bias in favor of men. A common manifestation of internalized philogyny is a sense of well being and safety. The belief of the love and admiration of women diminishes lateral violence.

Safety and cooperation

Philogyny has taken shape as sexual liberation. Philogynist attitudes lead to the physical, sexual, and emotional safety of gender nonconforming boys in childhood.

References

{{Sexual identities Women in society Love