What is gynocentrism? There are multiple ways to define it, I personally like to think about it as a way of thinking that prioritizes the well-being of women over that of men. In this blog I have written about multiple examples where the male victim is erased while the female victim is emphasized. Gynocentrism and male disposability go hand in hand and it’s obvious that equality cannot be achieved as long as these ways of thinking are prevalent in our society.

Both the left-wing and the right-wing can be gynocentric in different ways. For the left, only female problems are worth addressing. If the left ever tries to solve any male problems at all, it never defines them as “male issues” even if those affected are 99% male. “Female problems” are “female problems” while “male problems” are just “problems”. This is, of course, the erasure of the male victim. [1], [2]

Even when the left attempts to address male issues, it’s usually from a fully gynocentric point of view where men are always to blame while women are never to blame. When one looks at the discussions surrounding toxic masculinity, for example, it becomes clear that it’s framed as a male responsibility to solve it, there are rarely, if ever, conversations about the various ways that some women might be encouraging the existence of toxic masculinity, even though a lot of boys spend more time with their mothers than their fathers.

Right-wing gynocentrism is also a thing and this becomes apparent when one looks at the discussions surrounding the recent refugee crisis during the Syrian conflict. It was always “the refugees are raping our women” this and “they’re going to steal our women” that. This is of course, not new. It’s well known that a lot of the lynchings of black men in the US happened because rape accusations were involved. It almost seems like some men have a certain primitive fear of the “other men” stealing their women. This attitude is paternalistic and might even seem misogynist, but it doesn’t change that it’s also gynocentric. It seems like it’s always the female victims who gain the most attention. The anti-male results of this gynocentric stance become more obvious when one looks at how some right-wing politicians and commentators suggested taking in only the women and children refugees and not the men. [3] (even though men are often the primary victims of war)

Gynocentrism is a toxic way of thinking that harms men, society and even some women. Both the left and the right can perpetuate it and equality cannot be achieved as long as it is prevalent.

Sources:



