by Peter Wright
In 1903 Lester F. Ward defined gynocentrism this way:
“The gynæcocentric theory is the view that the female sex is primary and the male secondary in the organic scheme, that originally and normally all things center, as it were, about the female.”12
In 1914 George A. Birmingham wrote:
“American social life seems to me — the word is one to apologize for — gynocentric. It is arranged with a view to the convenience and delight of women. Men come in where and how they can.”13
In these pithy definitions gynocentrism frames women as superiors in their relation to men who are positioned to support women’s ‘convenience and delight’ where and how they can.
In her 1988 paper feminist Iris M. Young confirms the gynocentric principle of “superiority” of female values over male values, suggesting the superiority continues to rest on a biological basis as it did for Lester F. Ward back in 1903. Young states;
“Gynocentric feminism… argues for the superiority of the values embodied in traditionally female experience and rejects the values it finds in traditionally male dominated institutions… Gynocentric feminism finds in women’s bodies and traditionally feminine activity the source of positive values. Women’s reproductive processes keep us linked with nature and the promotion of life to a greater degree than men’s. Female eroticism is more fluid, diffuse, and loving than violence-prone male sexuality. Our feminine socialization and traditional roles as mothers give us the capacity to nurture and a sense of social cooperation that may be the only salvation of the planet… within traditional femininity lie the values that we should promote for a better society.”14
Note here the biological essentialism appearing from Lester Ward through to Young who states that “Gynocentrism’s most important contribution is its affirmation of difference”14 Young clarifies that the superiority of “women’s bodies” and associated values are central tenets of both gynocentrism and third wave feminism, a biological essentialism that antifeminists appear not to have noticed in their rush to denounce the ‘gender is an arbitrary social construct’ stance of some second-wave feminists.15
Since the 1970s most exploration of gynocentrism has been carried out by feminists from the perspective of what it means to or feels like for women – i.e., they ask how does the practice of gynocentrism serve to strengthen women’s ego-identity and improve their sense of dignity and wellbeing. Notably no equivalent discussion of men and boys has taken place in terms of their experience of gynocentrism, thus the female-biased examination of gynocentrism is imbalanced and requires the inclusion of male, and also neutral, perspectives in order to give a more complete overview of the topic.
Since the turn of the millennium new research into the nature and dynamics of gynocentrism – from male-inclusive, and humanist points of view – has provided a more detailed understanding of gynocentrism. The following presents a synopsis of eight of these contributors: Alison Tieman, Paul Elam, Paul Nathanson & Katherine Young, Adam Kostakis, Peter wright, Dennis Gouws, and Peter Ryan.
Alison Tieman
“In my opinion – and this is just from observing the social systems as they play out – I would say that gynocentrism prioritizes women’s protection and provision.”16
Paul Elam
“For me gynocentrism is simply the ingrained human tendency to prioritize the needs and wants of women over the needs and wants of men. In its development culturally its not near that simple, and its development biologically its not near that simple. But as it manifests itself in the realm of sexual politics I do call it the tendency in human beings to prioritize the needs and wants of women over the needs and wants of men… The reason I like to frame it in terms of needs and wants is because in this gynocentric milieu, the gynocentric landscape in which we live, its not just protection and provision that women have the demand of the culture around them, it is everything. Its protection, its provision, its privilege, its power, its believe the woman, its, ynow, if I say something I don’t want to be questioned; this goes way beyond protection and provision. 16
“How did chivalry go from being a military code to being a codified standard for men to meet in their protective treatment of women? The answer to that is a matter of historical record; it was through manipulation of the gynocentric instinct. In the twelfth century Eleanor of Aquitaine and her daughter Marie de Champagne engaged in an intensive campaign to popularize the idea of courtly or romantic love… Eleanor, a woman of serious means and influence, sort of like a supersized Betty Friedan of the high Middle Ages saw an opportunity in this to promote a connection between men and women inspired by passion and infatuation and driven by a model of service – particularly of service to women. She and her daughter commissioned troubadours who borrowed from the ethics of military chivalry to write books and songs that carried this message to all the European courts. Even though the message was meant primarily for the aristocracy it eventually filtered down into the general population and quickly grew in popularity… The advent of romantic chivalrous love took the naturally occurring tendency in men to take care of women and made the first great leap toward a gynocentric society that would tolerate and indeed encourage all manner of insanity in the name of putting women first.”17
Paul Nathanson & Katherine Young
“Gynocentrism is a form of essentialism – as distinct from scholarship or political activity on behalf of women – to the extent that it focuses on the innate virtues of women. But this worldview is explicitly misandric too, because it not only ignores the needs and problems of men but also attacks men. Misandry is a form of dualism that focuses on the innate vices of men. In this moral or even ontological hierarchy , women are at the top and men are at the bottom.”18
Adam Kostakis
“The traditional idea under discussion is male sacrifice for the benefit of women, which we term Gynocentrism. This is the historical norm, and it was the way of the world long before anything called ‘feminism’ made itself known. There is an enormous amount of continuity between the chivalric class code which arose in the Middle Ages and modern feminism, for instance. That the two are distinguishable is clear enough, but the latter is simply a progressive extension of the former over several centuries, having retained its essence over a long period of transition. One could say that they are the same entity, which now exists in a more mature form – certainly, we are not dealing with two separate creatures.19
“And what is the logical outcome – say, if tomorrow, feminists got everything they are advocating for today? We would be plunged immediately into a two-tier system of rights and obligations, where men and women form distinct castes of citizen, the former weighed down by the obligations that enable the latter to luxuriate in their total autonomy. Life for women would be a literal lawlessness, while men’s every move would be dictated from above, geared to the purpose of providing for all female needs and wants. It would not be inappropriate to call such a system sexual feudalism, and every time I read a feminist article, this is the impression that I get: that they aim to construct a new aristocracy, comprised only of women, while men stand at the gate, till in the fields, fight in their armies, and grovel at their feet for starvation wages. All feminist innovation and legislation creates new rights for women and new duties for men; thus it tends towards the creation of a male underclass.20
“So, here is the definition I offer up: feminism is the most recent, and presently the most culturally dominant form of Gynocentrism. It is a victim ideology which explicitly advocates female supremacy, at every facet of life in which men and women meet; it does so in accordance with its universalizing tendency, and so it does so in each sphere of life, including but extending beyond the political, social, cultural, personal, emotional, sexual, spiritual, economic, governmental and legal. By female supremacy, I refer to the notion that women should possess superiority of status, power and protection relative to men. It is the dominant cultural paradigm in the Western world and beyond. It is morally indefensible, althoug
h its adherents ensure that their hegemony goes unchallenged through the domination of societal institutions and the use of state violence.”21
Peter Wright
“[Gynocentric] chivalry is alluded to by alternative terms such as benevolent sexism, romantic love, gentlemanliness, courtesy, gallantry, heroism, or simply chivalry. The practice has roots in what some scholars have referred to as chivalric ‘love service,’ (Bennett, 2013) a ritualized form of devotion by men toward women popularized by troubadours in the Middle Ages. The earliest conceptualization of love service borrowed from the vocabulary of medieval feudalism, mimicking ties between a liegeman and his overlord; i.e., the male lover is referred to as homo ligius (the woman’s liegeman, or ‘my man’) who pledged honor, and servitium (service) to the lady via a posture of feudal homage. The lady was addressed as midons (literally ‘my lord’), and also by dominus (denoting the feudal Lady) (Alfonsi, 1986). These practices form the ideological taproot of modern romantic chivalry.
The conventions and indeed the lived practices of romantic chivalry celebrated first among the upper classes made their way by degrees eventually to the middle classes and finally to the lower classes – or rather they broke class structure altogether in the sense that all Western peoples became inheritors of the customs regardless of their social station. Today chivalry is a norm observed across the majority of global cultures, an explicitly gynocentric norm aimed to increase the comfort, safety and power of women, while affording men a sense of purpose and occasional heroism in addressing that same task.
C.S. Lewis referred to the growth of romantic chivalry as “the feudalisation of love,” (Lewis, 2013, p. 2) making the observation that it has left no corner of our ethics, our imagination, or our daily life untouched. He observed that European society has moved essentially from a social feudalism, involving a contractual arrangement between a feudal lord and his vassal, to a sexual feudalism involving a comparable contract between men and women as symbolized in the act of a man going down on one knee to propose marriage.22
“The dominant features of gender relations today come from old Europe in the forms of damseling, chivalry and courtly-love. Together they form the customs, in fact the essence, of modern gynocentric culture.23
Dennis Gouws
“This conservative approach to chivalry, one whose paternalism has surely outlived its usefulness in the twenty-first century, offers men little and confines them to a life of gynocentric pleasing and male disposability in the service of gynocentric chivalry. What this approach has in common with gender feminism is the way it suggests gynocentrism is essential and congruent with society—its natural and normal protocol—rather than being one philosophy among many. The second approach placed the onus on changing chivalry on women and their expectations. Ashley suggested that “It is women who need to figure out what roles they would have men perpetuate, and encourage those over the less-preferred actions.” This approach completely objectifies men and empowers women to dictate what they want men to do to please women. It is gynocentric, strategic, and impersonal; it is a gender-feminist approach. As much of this chapter has suggested, it is harmful to men and women who seek gender equity.
“Michael Kimmel (Kalish & Kimmel, 2010) popularized the concept of aggrieved entitlement which can succinctly be defined as “a gendered emotion, a fusion of that humiliating loss of manhood and the moral obligation and entitlement to get it back” (p. 454). Because Kimmel’s sympathies lie with gender feminism, he is uninterested in how this concept might apply to women’s behavior. Women might express aggrieved entitlement when they experience what they perceive to be a humiliating loss of the gynocentric privilege to which gynocentric chivalry, gender feminism, and hegemonic gynarchy have entitled them. Self-righteous, angry expressions of personal offense and even violent acts might result from their perceived moral obligation to regain their sense of gynocentric privilege. A cursory internet search of gender-feminist responses to men’s-issues speakers on campus and to the establishing men’s groups or other male-positive spaces on campus will provide examples of this aggrieved entitlement.”24
Peter Ryan
I define gynocentrism as the following: The set of elements of society and relationships that are directed by the intent to prioritise female well-being over male well-being, based solely or partly on the sex of the intended beneficiary(ies) being female and for which there are no equivalent efforts made to provide corresponding commensurate benefits to males.
I define well-being as the quality of the overall condition of the life of an individual or group, that is based on taking their mental and physical health and life satisfaction into consideration.
The diagnostic criteria that must be met for an element of society or relationships to be considered gynocentric are the following: 1. The element must be driven by the intent to prioritise female well-being over male well-being. 2. This intent must be solely or partly based on the sex of the intended beneficiary(ies) being female. 3. There must be no equivalent efforts made to provide commensurate benefits to males for instances where female well-being is prioritised over male well-being.”25
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Lastly I will give two online definitions of gynocentrism before summarizing the material above; the first from Encyclopedia.com, and the second from the Oxford Online Dictionary:
“Gynocentrism: Is a radical feminist discourse that champions woman-centered beliefs, identities, and social organization.”26
“Gynocentric: Centered on or concerned exclusively with women; taking a female (or specifically a feminist) point of view.”27
Summary of descriptions of gynocentrism:
By definition males and females in gynocentric relationships are ‘woman-centered’ as per the suffix -centrism. In this respect gynocentrism is contrary to relationships that are centered in reciprocity between partners.
A gynocentric relationship requires specific gender roles: men are expected to behave benevolently sexist/chivalric toward women; and women are to assume a biologically and morally superior. (“pedestalized”) posture typical of the romantic love tradition, with an accompanying expectation of entitlement to benefits.
Gynocentrism is focused on maximizing the benefits of convenience, comfort, pleasure, needs, wants, protections, provision, power and self-esteem of women.
It takes place in heterosexual relationships, or by extension in relationships where stereotypical heterosexual roles can be mimicked. In this sense it is situational (heterosexual relationships) rather than universal and general.
It obliterates male humanity, and variety of potential masculinities, and replaces them with the singular masculinity of chivalric servant. Masculine variety of every non-gynocentric kind is viewed as a failure and affront to the gynocentric mandate.
DSM criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder
The DSM-5 states that narcissistic personality disorder is indicated by the presence of at least 5 of the following 9 criteria. For the purpose of comparing the DSM criteria with traits typical of the gynocentric woman [GW], I will place the latter in red font under each of the DSM points:
• A grandiose sense of self-importance (eg, the individual exaggerates achievements and talents and expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
[GW] Sees self as ‘superior’ to males (eg. physically, morally, creatively, aesthetically, emotionally) based on the fact of being born female.12, 14
• A preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
[GW] Preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love, especially in the gendered context of the romantic love tradition.28
• A belief that he or she is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions
[GW] Gynocentric feminists have long celebrated women’s special and unique “ways of knowing,” along with the myst
ical association women share through these paths.29, 30
• A need for excessive admiration
[GW] Expects pedestalization of women by men. Pedestalization is defined by some authors as a synonym or central defining feature of gynocentrism.31, 32
• A sense of entitlement (ie, unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations)
[GW] Feels entitled to receive gestures of benevolent sexism/chivalry, and deferential behavior from intimate and familial males.33
• Interpersonally exploitive behavior (ie, the individual takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends)
[GW] Seeking, expecting, pressuring, or demanding benevolent sexism from men in order to secure benefits of comfort, pleasure, needs, wants, protections, provision, power and self-esteem, including the use of punishing gestures for failures or non-compliance, is sexually exploitative 22
• A lack of empathy (unwillingness to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others)
[GW] Women and men collude in squelching empathic recognition of men’s issues. This approach is actively promoted by gynocentric feminists who treat dispensation of empathy as a zero-sum activity and scarce resource reserved for women.34, 35