The worship, excessive reverence, or idealization of women or feminine qualities.
From Greek 'gyne' (woman) + 'latreia' (worship, service). The term combines the root for woman with the standard suffix for worship (as in idolatry, doxolatry).
Interestingly, 'gyneolatry' and feminism are sometimes opposed—treating women as idealized goddesses to be placed on pedestals actually prevents them from being seen as equal agents with normal human flaws and agency, making it a form of constraint rather than liberation.
Female worship as an ideology has historically coexisted with legal subordination; 19th-century 'pedestal' rhetoric idealized women while denying them votes, property, and bodily autonomy.
Avoid in current usage. Use 'gender equity commitment' or 'women's empowerment' to center actual rights and agency rather than romanticized reverence.
["gender equity commitment","women's empowerment","feminist solidarity"]
Women's liberation movements succeeded by rejecting pedestals and demanding concrete rights—recognition of this strategic clarity honors their actual achievements.
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