Gynocentrism

Gynocentrism refers to a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice; or to the advocacy of this. Anything can be considered gynocentric when it is concerned exclusively with a female (or specifically a feminist) point of view.

Elements of gynocentric culture existing today are derived from practices originating in medieval society such as feudalism, chivalry and courtly love that continue to inform contemporary society in subtle ways. Peter Wright refers to such gynocentric patterns as constituting a "sexual feudalism", as attested by female writers like Lucrezia Marinella or Modesta Pozzo. Marinella recounted that, in 1600 AD, women of lower socioeconomic classes were treated as superiors by men who acted as servants or beasts born to serve them. In 1590, Pozzo wrote,

"don’t we see that men’s rightful task is to go out to work and wear themselves out trying to accumulate wealth, as though they were our factors or stewards, so that we can remain at home like the lady of the house directing their work and enjoying the profit of their labors? That, if you like, is the reason why men are naturally stronger and more robust than us—they need to be, so they can put up with the hard labor they must endure in our service."

Feminist theorists later promoted the need for gynocentrism whereby women's views, needs, and desires are given primacy as the lens through which social issues are analyzed and addressed as a counter to male perspectives in academia and culture. Scholars Katherine K. Young and Paul Nathanson state that feminist calls for equality or even equity are often a subterfuge for gynocentrism.

The term gynocentrism is derived from Ancient 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 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).

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