We explain what hembrism is, its differences with feminism and its relationship with machismo. Also, the debate it raises.
What is hembrism?
By feminism we mean sexual discrimination against men by women. It is a neologism that is proposed as the inverse and opposite concept of machismo, and whose existence or even real possibility is currently debated.
It should not in any case be confused with feminism.which is a critical school of thought that pursues equality between men and women, dismantling patriarchal thinking.
The use of this term has become popular in many contemporary discussions of gender equality and feminist claims, especially intense and visible during the second decade of the 21st century. It has been proposed as a radical correlate of machismo, that is, a form of exclusive thinking exercised by women towards men.
It is understood as a response or retaliation for the traditional machismo of most human cultures. However, not all language and cultural institutions have admitted its use, nor have they incorporated it into formal or official discourses.
To cite two cases, it is not mentioned in the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, but professor Manuel Alvar Ezquerra, from the Complutense University of Madrid, defines hembrism as “sexual discrimination, of a dominant nature, adopted by women.”
However, the term hembrism was used in the 1960s by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in his book male domination. Paradoxically, the theorist used it to refer to the excessively servile attitude that traditional sexist culture assigns and imposes on women.
That is to say that for Bourdieu, it consisted of a complementary concept of machismo: if the latter is the male domination of society, hembrism would be female submission in it. Seen this way, machismo would produce feminism.
Debate on hembrism
The authorities of feminist criticism allege that hembrism does not existbut rather it is a neologism created by certain conservative sectors that, refusing to give up their sexist privileges. That is to say, it is used to discredit the struggle for feminism, wanting to sell it as a supposed hatred of the entire male gender.
However, In other cases the term is used to refer to the existence of radical feminism.as a way to separate it from less violent currents, more reformist, if you will.
The resurgence of feminism at the beginning of the 21st century has generated in some communities the idea that masculinity is under attack and that feminism would pursue an agenda to symbolically castrate men. The use of the term fembrista as “radical feminist” seems to arise from these sectors.
For example, it is frequently used in movements neocon (neoconservatives) or alt-right or alternative right, who accuse society of suffering from an agenda of “cultural Marxism” that would threaten traditional Western values. One of the most famous voices of this type of collective is the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.
For most traditional academics, however, these types of claims are only based on the defense of the privileges of the conservative class and should not be taken seriously. The debate, in whatever way, is ongoing.
Continue with: Matriarchy
References
- “Hembrism” on Wikipedia.
- “Feminism is not hembrism” by Mariano Marquevich in Perfil (Argentina).
- “The success of the Canadian psychologist who says that men are blamed just for being men” in La Vanguardia (Spain).
- “Feminism is not the opposite of machismo” in Fundéu BBVA.
