Dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice
Gynocentrism
is a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice.
[1]
Anything can be gynocentric when it is considered exclusively with a female or feminist point of view in mind.
[2]
The related adjective is
androcentric
, while the practice of placing the
feminine
point of view at the center is
gynocentric
.
Etymology
[
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]
The term
gynocentrism
is derived from
ancient Greek
, γυν? and κ?ντρον. Γυν? can be translated as
woman
or
female
, but also as
wife
.
[3]
[4]
In ancient Greek compounds with γυν?, the stem γυναικ- is normally used.
[4]
This stem can be spotted in the genitive case γυναικ??,
[3]
and in the older form of the nominative case γ?ναιξ.
[3]
In ancient Greek, no compounds are known to exist with γυν? that start with γυνο- or γυνω-.
[4]
The ancient Greek word κ?ντρον can be translated as
sharp point
,
[4]
sting (of bees and wasps)
,
[4]
point of a spear
[4]
and
stationary point of a pair of compasses
,
[4]
with the meaning
centre of a circle
related to the latter.
[4]
The meaning
centre/middle point (of a circle)
is preserved in the Latin word
centrum
,
[5]
[6]
a
loanword
from ancient Greek.
[5]
[6]
The English word
centre
is derived from the Latin
centrum
.
[7]
The word κ?ντρον is derived from the verb κεντε?ν,
[4]
[6]
meaning
to sting (of bees)
,
[4]
to prick
,
[4]
to goad
,
[4]
and
to spur
.
[4]
When trying to explain etymologically the term
gynocentrism
, it is important to consider the ancient Greek κ?ντρον, with the signification
middle point/centre
, and not the more obvious ancient Greek word κεντρισμ?? (mirroring
-centrism
).
History
[
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]
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."
[8]
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."
[9]
Beginning with
second-wave feminism
in the 1970s, the term gynocentrism has been used to describe
difference feminism
, which displayed a shift towards understanding and accepting gender differences, in contrast to
equality feminism
.
[10]
Gynocentrism started to appear in the
Middle Ages
, when society became more and more male-dominated, and the role of women became subservient.
[11]
In contemporary society
[
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]
The
Men Going Their Own Way
(MGTOW) community describes themselves as a backlash against the "misandry of gynocentrism".
[12]
[13]
According to University of Massachusetts philosopher Christa Hodapp, in modern men's movements gynocentrism is described as a continuation of the
courtly love
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
as the perpetuation of oppressive medieval conventions such as
devotional chivalry
and
romanticized relationships
, rather than as a movement towards liberation.
[14]
It is the opposite of
androcentrism
, which is a focus on the male point of view.
J. Lasky has characterized gynocentrism as a potential response to androcentrism,
[11]
and that gynocentrism has been used as an argument by anti-feminists, who believe that gynocentrism is anti-male.
[11]
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" as women make up the majority of victims, hospitalizations, and deaths from domestic violence.
[15]
[16]
Criticism
[
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]
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.
[17]
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.
[18]
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".
[19]
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.
[20]
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
(hatred of and prejudice towards men).
[20]
They claim that gynocentrism as a worldview has become de rigueur in law courts and government bureaucracies, resulting in systemic discrimination against men.
[20]
They define gynocentrism as a form of
essentialism
as it focuses on the innate virtues of women and the innate vices of men.
[20]
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Staff writer (2009), "
Gynocentrism
", in
OED (ed.).
Oxford English Dictionary - Vers.4.0
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780199563838
.
- ^
Staff writer (2010), "
Gynocentric
", in
OED, ed. (2006).
Oxford English Dictionary
. Oxford University Press.
ISBN
9780198614241
.
- ^
a
b
c
Kraus, Ludwig A. (1844).
Kritisch-etymologisches medicinisches Lexikon
(Dritte Auflage)
. Gottingen, Germany: Deuerlich & Dieterich.
OCLC
491993305
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Liddell, Henry G.
;
Scott, Robert
(1940).
A Greek-English lexicon / a new edition revised and augmented throughout / by Sir Henry Stuart Jones; with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie and with the co-operation of many scholars
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
OCLC
630078019
.
- ^
a
b
Lewis, Charlton T.
; Short, Charles (1879).
A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary
. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
OCLC
223667500
.
- ^
a
b
c
Saalfeld, Gunther Alexander Ernst Adolf (1884).
Tensaurus Italograecus : ausfuhrliches historisch-kritisches Worterbuch der Griechischen Lehn- und Fremdworter im Lateinischen
. Wien: Druck und Verlag von Carl Gerold's Sohn, Buchhandler der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften.
OCLC
46301119
.
- ^
Klein, Ernest
(1971).
A comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language: Dealing with the origin of words and their sense development thus illustration the history of civilization and culture
. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V.
OCLC
802030047
.
- ^
The Open Court
, Volume 11 (Open Court Publishing Company, 1897)
- ^
George A. Birmingham,
From Dublin to Chicago: Some Notes on a Tour in America
(George H. Doran Company, 1914)
- ^
Nicholson, Linda J. (1997), "
Gynocentrism: women's oppression, women's identity, and women's standpoint
", in
Nicholson, Linda J., ed. (1997).
The second wave: a reader in feminist theory (Volume 1)
. New York: Routledge. pp. 147?151.
ISBN
9780415917612
.
- ^
a
b
c
Lasky, J. (2023). Gynocentrism.
Salem Press Encyclopedia
.
- ^
Daubney, Martin
(November 24, 2015).
"George Lawlor's story shows how universities have become hostile towards men"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. Archived from
the original
on April 15, 2016
. Retrieved
January 14,
2016
.
- ^
Smith, C. Brian (September 28, 2016).
"The straight men who want nothing to do with women"
.
MEL Magazine
. Archived from
the original
on February 14, 2017.
- ^
Christa Hodapp,
Men's Rights, Gender, and Social Media
, Lexington Books (September 5, 2017)
ISBN
1498526160
- ^
Wallace, W. C., Gibson, C., Gordon, N. A., Lakhan, R., Mahabir, J., & Seetahal, C.
Domestic Violence: Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Non-Reporting to the Police in Trinidad and Tobago.
(2019)
- ^
Joseph-Edwards, Avis; Wallace, Wendell C. (2020-09-13).
"Suffering in Silence, Shame, Seclusion, and Invisibility: Men as Victims of Female Perpetrated Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago"
.
Journal of Family Issues
.
42
(8): 1805?1830.
doi
:
10.1177/0192513x20957047
.
ISSN
0192-513X
.
- ^
Hoff Sommers, Christina
(1995), "
Transforming the academy
", in
Hoff Sommers, Christina
, ed. (May 1995).
Who stole feminism?: How women have betrayed women
. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp.
64?73
.
ISBN
9780684801568
.
- ^
La Caze, Marguerite (2006), "
Splitting the difference: between Young and Fraser on identity politics
", in
Burns, Lynda, ed. (2006).
Feminist alliances
. Amsterdam New York: Rodopi. p.
153
.
ISBN
9789042017283
.
- ^
Coward, Rosalind
(2000), "
Introduction
", in
Coward, Rosalind
, ed. (2000).
Sacred cows: is feminism relevant to the new millennium
. London: HarperCollins. p. 11.
ISBN
9780006548201
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Nathanson, Paul;
Young, Katherine K.
(2006).
Legalizing misandry: from public shame to systemic discrimination against men
. Montreal Ithaca: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 58, 116, 209.
ISBN
9780773559998
.
External links
[
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]