{{Short description|Dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2026}} '''Gynocentrism''' is a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice.<ref>{{cite web |title=gynocentrism |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gynocentrism |archive-date=27 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927230438/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gynocentrism}}</ref> The opposite practice, placing the masculine point of view at the centre, is androcentrism.
==Etymology== The term ''gynocentrism'' is derived from Ancient Greek, γυνή and κέντρον. Γυνή can be translated as ''woman'' or ''female'', but also as ''wife''.<ref name="Kraus">{{cite book |last=Kraus |first=Ludwig A. |title=Kritisch-etymologisches medicinisches Lexikon'' (Dritte Auflage)'' |publisher=Deuerlich & Dieterich |year=1844 |location=Göttingen, Germany |oclc=491993305}}</ref><ref name="Liddell & Scott">{{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry G. |title=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 |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940 |location=Oxford |oclc=630078019 |author-link1=Henry Liddell |author-link2=Robert Scott (philologist)}}</ref> In Ancient Greek compounds with γυνή, the stem γυναικ- is normally used.<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> This stem can be spotted in the genitive case γυναικός,<ref name="Kraus"/> and in the older form of the nominative case γύναιξ.<ref name="Kraus"/> In Ancient Greek, no compounds are known to exist with γυνή that start with γυνο- or γυνω-.<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/>
The Ancient Greek word κέντρον can be translated as ''sharp point'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> ''sting (of bees and wasps)'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> ''point of a spear''<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> and ''stationary point of a pair of compasses'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> with the meaning ''centre of a circle'' related to the latter.<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> The meaning ''centre/middle point (of a circle)'' is preserved in the Latin word ''centrum'',<ref name="Lewis & Short">{{cite book |last1=Lewis |first1=Charlton T. |last2=Short |first2=Charles |author-link1=Charlton Thomas Lewis |title=A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's Latin dictionary |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |year=1879 |oclc=223667500}}</ref><ref name="Saalfeld1884">{{cite book |last=Saalfeld |first=Günther Alexander Ernst Adolf |title=Tensaurus Italograecus : ausführliches historisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Griechischen Lehn- und Fremdwörter im Lateinischen |url=https://archive.org/details/tensaurusitalog00saalgoog/mode/1up?view=theater |publisher=Druck und Verlag von Carl Gerold's Sohn, Buchhändler der Kaiserl. Akademie der Wissenschaften |location=Wien |year=1884 |oclc=46301119 |via=the Internet Archive}}</ref> a loanword from Ancient Greek.<ref name="Lewis & Short"/><ref name="Saalfeld1884"/> The English word ''centre'' is derived from the Latin ''centrum''.<ref name="Klein1971">{{cite book |last=Klein |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Klein |title=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 |publisher=Elsevier Science B.V. |location=Amsterdam |url=https://archive.org/stream/AComprehensiveEtymologicalDictionaryOfTheEnglishLanguageByErnestKlein/A+Comprehensive+Etymological+Dictionary+of+the+English+Language+by+Ernest+Klein_djvu.txt |year=1971 |oclc=802030047 |via=the Internet Archive}}</ref> The word κέντρον is derived from the verb κεντεῖν,<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/><ref name="Saalfeld1884"/> meaning ''to sting (of bees)'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> ''to prick'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> ''to goad'',<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> and ''to spur''.<ref name="Liddell & Scott"/> 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."<ref>''The Open Court'', Volume 11 (Open Court Publishing Company, 1897)</ref> 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."<ref>George A. Birmingham, ''From Dublin to Chicago: Some Notes on a Tour in America'' (George H. Doran Company, 1914)</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nicholson |first=Linda |chapter=Gynocentrism: women's oppression, women's identity, and women's standpoint |editor-last=Nicholson |editor-first=Linda |title=The Second Wave: a Reader in Feminist Theory, Volume 1 |pages=147—151 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-415-91761-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EcgSDuc2bWQC&pg=PT147 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
==In contemporary society== The Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) community describes themselves as a backlash against the "misandry of gynocentrism".<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Smith |first=C. Brian |title=The straight men who want nothing to do with women |url=https://melmagazine.com/the-straight-men-who-want-nothing-to-do-with-women-2653920a42e8#.b6ifgbwn7 |date=28 September 2016 |magazine=MEL Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214053510/https://melmagazine.com/the-straight-men-who-want-nothing-to-do-with-women-2653920a42e8?gi=1552020583e3 |archive-date=14 February 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>Christa Hodapp, ''Men's Rights, Gender, and Social Media'', Lexington Books (2017) {{ISBN|978-1-4985-2616-6}}</ref>
J. Lasky has characterized gynocentrism as a potential response to androcentrism, and that gynocentrism has been used as an argument by anti-feminists, who believe that gynocentrism is anti-male.<ref name="Lasky 2023">Lasky, J. (2023). Gynocentrism. ''Salem Press Encyclopedia''.</ref>{{Verify source|date=January 2026}}
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."<ref>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)</ref><ref name="Joseph-Edwards 2020">{{Cite journal |last=Joseph-Edwards |first=Avis |last2=Wallace |first2=Wendell C. |date=2020 |title=Suffering in Silence, Shame, Seclusion, and Invisibility: Men as Victims of Female Perpetrated Domestic Violence in Trinidad and Tobago |url= |journal=Journal of Family Issues |volume=42 |issue=8 |pages=1805–1830 |doi=10.1177/0192513x20957047 |issn=0192-513X}}</ref>
==Criticism== {{Primary sources|section|date=January 2026}}
Feminist writer Lynda Burns alleges that gynocentrism is a magnification 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.<ref>{{cite book |last=La Caze |first=Marguerite |chapter=Splitting the Difference: Between Young and Fraser on Identity Politics |title=Feminist Alliances |publisher=Rodopi |year=2006 |isbn=978-90-420-1728-3 |editor-last=Burns |editor-first=Lynda |location=Amsterdam |page=153 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CdfgMEV3f6oC&pg=PT153 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
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".<ref>{{cite book |last=Coward |first=Rosalind |author-link=Ros Coward |chapter=Introduction |editor-last=Coward |editor-first=Rosalind |title=Sacred Cows: is Feminism Relevant to the New Millennium |page=11 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=London |isbn=978-0-00-654820-1 |year=2000}}</ref>
According to Margrit Eichler gynocentrism can be seen as sexist bias in social science research.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eichler |first=Margrit |title=Non-sexist research methods. A practical guide |publisher=Allen and Unwin |year=1988 |pages=107 |language=en}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Society}} * Androcentrism * Gynocriticism * Herstory * Matriarchy * Anthropocentrism
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * [http://newmalestudies.com/OJS/index.php/nms/article/view/311/374 Peter Wright, 'Gynocentrism As A Narcissistic Pathology'] * [https://www.newmalestudies.com/OJS/index.php/nms/article/view/372/428 Peter Wright, 'Gynocentrism As A Narcissistic Pathology' (Part 2)] * [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0277539585900408 Iris M. Young, 'Humanism, Gynocentrism and Feminist Politics'] * [https://gynocentrism.com/2016/09/10/definition-of-gynocentrism/ Gynocentrism and its Cultural Origins] * [https://muse.jhu.edu/article/189986 Gynocentric Eco-Logics] * [http://www.hagia.de/en/matriarchy.html International Academy HAGIA: Matriarchy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003001954/http://www.hagia.de/en/matriarchy.html |date=3 October 2015 }} {{Feminism}}
Category:Criticism of feminism Category:Political catchphrases