In this reflectary, you will find key terms on feminisms, violence against women, and everyday manifestations of sexism.
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Violencia machista (Sexist violence) Sexist violence is another term used to refer to gender-based violence against women. This concept aims to highlight that the cause of said violence is the patriarchal system and the male chauvinism it promotes, which pushes women and girls to a position of vulnerability. Photo credit: Nubefy Have any questions? MODII can help! Send your query
Sexual violence (Violencia sexual) According to the World Health Organization, sexual violence is ‘any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting’ (WHO, 2017). This phenomenon takes on different forms, including harassment, unwanted sexual advances, sexual abuse,
Slut-shaming La palabra slut-shaming proviene del inglés y se puede traducir al español como tildar de puta, zorra o guarra a una mujer con el fin de insultarla. This refers to shaming women who do not fit the stereotypes or the traditional expectations of women’s sexual behaviours. It centres on criticizing, judging, or making women feel bad for freely exercising
Sisterhood, sorority (Sororidad) This refers to the sisterhood among women, particularly in relation to social gender issues in patriarchal societies. It focuses on support, coexistence, and solidarity between women in the face of social problems, and centres on creating links of solidarity to join forces and eliminate social oppressions. Sisterhood is understood as the alliance among women in the search
Stereotype (Estereotipo) These are generalized opinions of certain social groups based on certain characteristics, such as ethnicity, age, sex, gender, profession, physical appearance, nationality, and social class, among others. They represent qualities that are positively or negatively viewed by society; these representations do not necessarily align with the actual reality of each person. In this sense, stereotypes categorize people based
Sticky floor (Suelo pegajoso ) In gender studies, sticky floor refers to the care tasks that are traditionally assigned to women; these represent an obstacle that do not allow them to leave the domestic sphere and dedicate time to their professional development. Given their family responsibilities, it becomes difficult for women to continue training outside of work, or to participate in
Surrogacy (Gestación subrogada) Surrogacy is a fertility technique where a woman or a person with uterus carries the child of another person or couple. This person is called the surrogate or gestational carrier and the ones who hold parental responsibility are calledintended parents. The technique consists of creating one or more embryos through in vitro fertilization and implanting them into the surrogate’s
Sustainable Development Goals, SDG (Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible, ODS) The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a set of global goals established to protect the planet, eradicate poverty and inequality, and ensure a sustainable future for humanity. They are part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, resulting from a long participatory process. The Agenda was adopted on 25 September 2015
TERF (TERF) This acronym means trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The use of this term, which generates controversy and debates, is on the rise on social media. For some sectors, it is used in a disparaging manner to refer to gender critical feminists. For others, it is merely a description of feminists who advocate for the rights of cisgender women and who do
Tokenism (Tokenismo) This is the practice of including and engaging minority groups and collectives, but only in a symbolic and superficial way. The neologism comes from the word token, which means symbol. This is a discriminatory practice precisely because it is based on avoiding accusations of prejudice and discrimination. It pretends to be diverse, but with no intention of
Trafficking in persons, human trafficking (Trata de personas) Human trafficking is a crime against a person’s human rights; the most agreed upon definition comes from Article 3 of the Palermo Protocol. It states, ‘Trafficking in persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons’, regardless of age, through threats or any form of coercion for the purpose
Transfeminism (Transfeminismo) Transfeminism is a part of what is known as new feminisms. It expands the subjects considered within feminism to include others who are also oppressed by cisheteropatriarchy, who are not necessarily cisgender women. The movement understands the concept of gender as a social construction used to oppress and exclude. Transfeminists identify patriarchal oppression not within genders themselves, but in the inflexible binary system ‘man/woman’
Transsexual woman (Mujer transexual) A person who was born with a male reproductive system, yet psychologically and vitally they identify with the feminine gender. Transsexual women may aspire to affirm their gender identity through surgeries or hormone replacement therapy to adapt their anatomy and adopt a masculine gender. In terms of sexual orientation, a transsexual woman can feel attracted to other woman and identify
Victim blaming Culpabilización de la víctima This is the cultural practice of blaming the victims (normally of sexual violence) by saying or implying that the violence resulted from what they did or did not do, instead of placing the blame where it belongs: the person responsible for the violence. Victim blaming centres on three main categories: Behaviour: for example, if
Victim of gender-based violence (Víctima de violencia de género) The terms victim and survivor of gender-based violence refer to people who suffer from this type of violence. However, the word survivoremphasizes the person’s strength to survive the violence and overcome said situation. Many organizations that work with survivors of gender-based violence assert that victim contributes to the idea that people
Violence against women (Violencia contra las mujeres) The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women defines violence against women as ‘any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public
Whitesplaining La palabra whitesplaining proviene del inglés y se puede traducir al español como explicación innecesaria de parte de una persona blanca o mestiza. This term is similar to mansplaining; it refers to situations where members of the dominant group—in this case, racially—provide explanations to others without said privileges about things they think they know more about. This occurs even
Woman (Mujer) In biology, the term is used for a female human; this means a person who has a female genital system or a female reproductive system (vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries, vulva). These biological characteristics establish a social and cultural construct of the meaning of woman. Historically, a person is only a woman if they have the qualities that
