What is hembrismo and how does it differ from feminism?

These two terms are sometimes equated equally with sexism, although they bear little relation.

In the world of social science and cognitive psychology, biases related to sexist attitudes generate a lot of interest. However, there are many terms surrounding this topic that generate confusion among many people who do not have a background in this area.

The terms "feminism" and "hembrismo", for example, are two labels that are often confused, as if they were synonymous.as if they were synonyms.

However, the meaning of what feminism has historically been and what has recently been given to the word hembrismo is very different. Let's see where the confusion comes from.

Definitions

First, we will give a rough definition of each of these words and then go on to see in detail how they differ.

Feminism

Feminism is a set of social movements whose objectives are based on the visibility and empowerment of women and the questioning of gender roles in which the feminine is considered to be eclipsed by the masculine. the feminine is considered to be overshadowed by the masculine.. Therefore, feminism is a social phenomenon linked to a particular historical context, and it is transformed over the years as history progresses. It focuses on demands related to legislation as well as to the customs and habits of a society that still drags macho leftovers due to centuries of domination over women.

Hembrism

In theory, hembrismo is a neologism used to refer to an attitude that legitimizes contempt and attacks on men because they are men. It is often equated with the concept of misandry, which means "hatred of men".which means "hatred of men", although the latter term has more to do with an attitude that may or may not be externalized in a more direct way, while the former is something observable. Therefore, the idea of hembrismo has to do with sexism.

The differences between feminism and hembrism

Let us now take a look at the differences between the two concepts

Social phenomenon vs. attitude

As we have seen, feminism is fundamentally a product of history, and its raison d'être has to do with an inequality that has historically harmed women. This means that feminism is not simply a person's propensity to think and act in a certain way.

Feminism is not something found in individuals, but in sets of people; it has to do with a collective phenomenon: the social movements that shape feminism. It exists as a response to an element that cannot be defined as individual eitherIt exists as a response to an element that cannot be defined as individual either, but is conceived as something systemic: patriarchy.

Hembrismo, on the other hand, would be an individual attitude, because it does not derive from a cultural or legal system of inequality in which the people who have historically had more power have been women.

In a way, hembrismo is more of a psychological than a social phenomenonwhereas the opposite is true of feminism. This, however, is only half true, because everything social has repercussions on the psychological and vice versa. However, this distinction between these two spheres (the social and the individual) serves to understand them better, since in practice they coexist and depend on each other.

Product of history vs. psychological bias

Feminism can be given a birth date, which usually coincides with the Enlightenment era. coincides with the time of the Enlightenment, because it is a social and intellectual movement.because it is a social and intellectual movement. That means that the idea that feminists could exist, for example, in Ancient Greece, is technically incorrect.

Hembrism, on the other hand, can theoretically be found at any time in the past, because it only depends on there being a person who, for one reason or another, rejects or hates men. Its existence does not depend on a dynamic of events that have been generating a chain effect throughout history, but appears in a more spontaneous way.

Unilateral rejection vs. integration

Feminism does not propose measures to indefinitely subtract welfare and power from men simply because they are men, something that machismo does by means of justifications based on "the natural order of things", tradition, etc. Even the affirmative action measures advocated by a part of feminism are conceived as a temporary fixto allow, for example, women to have access to management positions on equal terms with men.

Hembrism, on the other hand, would be hatred of men simply because they are men, that is, indefinitely and regardless of the context. It is, therefore, an essentialist biasbecause it does not depend on what a person does or on the conditions in which he relates to others, but it is his being a man that produces rejection because of sexism.

The controversies surrounding the idea of hembrismo

The very use of the word "hembrismo" has been highly criticized, since it is understood that it is a word born to harm the social movement. Somehow, it is assumed that its use can only have negative consequences for egalitarian movements and positive ones for conservative and traditionalist positions.

However, this does not have to be the case and, in fact, the fear that some feminist circles show about the possibility of approaching the meaning of the word hembrismo can make it be identified with feminism. identified with feminism by being considered a taboo, something that is not talked about.something that is not talked about and is made invisible because it effectively attacks the foundations of the movement.

For example, the position of assuming hembrismo as taboo reaches absurdities such as considering that "hembrismo does not exist", something that is evidently false. Hembrismo does not cease to exist because it is not comparable to machismo, in the same way that contempt for the followers of a soccer team exists despite the fact that there is no evidence of a political and cultural system that discriminates against them.