We explain what hembrism is, its differences with feminism and its relationship with machismo. In addition, the debate that it provokes.
What is hembrism?
By feminism is understood sexual discrimination towards men, by women. It is a neologism that is proposed as the inverse and opposite concept of sexism, and whose existence or even real possibility is currently debated.
It should in no way be confused with feminism, which is a critical school of thought that pursues equality between men and women, dismantling the thought patriarchal.
The use of this term has become popular in many contemporary discussions of the Gender Equality and feminist claims, especially intense and made visible during the second decade of the 21st century. It has been proposed as a radical correlate of machismo, that is, an exclusive way of thinking exercised by women towards men.
It is understood as a response or retaliation for the traditional machismo of most of the human cultures. However, not all institutions of language and culture have admitted its use, nor have they incorporated it into formal or official discourses.
To cite two cases, in the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy it is not mentioned, 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 feminism 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 attitude excessively servile that the traditional macho culture assigns and imposes on women.
In other words, for Bourdieu, it consisted of a complementary concept of machismo: if the latter is the male domination of the society, hembrismo would be the feminine submission in the same one. Seen this way, machismo would produce femininity.
Debate on feminism
The authorities of feminist criticism allege that hembrism does not exist, but is a neologism created by certain conservative sectors that, refused to give up their sexist privileges. In other words, it is used to discredit the fight for feminism, wanting to sell it as a supposed hatred of the whole male gender.
However, in other cases the term is used to refer to the existence of a 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 hembrist as "radical feminist" seems to emerge 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 the values traditional western. One of the most famous voices in this type of community is the Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson.
For the majority of traditional academics, on the other hand, these types of claims are based only on the defense of the privileges of the conservative class and should not be taken seriously. The debate, in whatever way, is ongoing.