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Femiphobia is the male fear of being feminine. The word is sometimes confused with gynephobia, which is fear of women. The definition of femiphobia is more concisely men distancing themselves from female traits, or their "feminine side."

Psychologist Stephen Ducat coined the word in his new book, "The Wimp Factor: Gender Gaps, Holy Wars and the Politics of Anxious Masculinity." According to Ducat, anxiety about masculinity has always played a role in conservative politics and subsequent wars.

After 9/11 the pre-feminist macho man attitude overtly resurfaced and converged with George W. Bush's paranoia about maintaining his image as "a regular guy." When the elder Bush was in office, he was portrayed in the media and by his political opponents as a "wimp" because of his propensity for using cutesy phrases. The impressionable younger Bush determined upon his rise to the highest office in the land to never look like a wimp. Some will attribute this mindset to the impetus for entering the Iraq war, in order to satisfy public outrage over the 9/11 attack and project the image of striking back and "getting the bad guys."

Fancying himself in the company of the likes of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, George W. projects his image as a good ole boy president who prefers "the ranch", when in reality he is afraid of horses and has only been photographed posing against the backdrop of an airplane.
His work on the ranch is confined to cutting brush.

The Bush men are not the only recent political figures to suffer their opponents pointing out their less masculine traits. Al Gore was derided for his prissy lisping and John Kerry was deemed a "girlie man."

Each victory in the area of women's rights brings a backlash of hyper-masculine behavior. The covert demonizing of Hillary Clinton by the media and her political adversaries throughout her campaign to win the democratic candidacy is a prime example. The closer women get to attaining equal rights, the higher incidence of violence against their sex as it is a short leap from femiphobia to fear of women demonstating strength or power.

It is a myth that men are not intrinsically nurturing and raising a family is better left to the feminine population. Twenty first century young fathers refute this misinformation and show their nurturing hand in every aspect of family life. They share responsibility of childcare and home maintenance with their female partners, much to the chagrin of femiphobic men of the "old school" generation.

Studies have been made to illustrate the conclusion that strict, authoritative fathering actually emasculates sons and turns them into wimps who grow up to mask their insecurity about their masculinity with overcompensating macho attitudes. Their inablility to comfortably relate to women leads to fear of women and a need to dominate in order to maintain control.

The insidious infiltration of femiphobic attitudes is acceptable in our society and not assigned the "politically incorrect" label, as are racist and sexist comments. Men are applauded in our society as "stud" or "dude" and commanded to "man up" in reference to being tough.

Boys continue to receive the message that they must not cry or show emotion "like a girl." Our schoolyards, sport venues and, in some cases, overly strict parenting styles are the potential breeding ground for a future generation of femiphobics.

The word femiphobia is not found in Webster's at present, but unless we understand the meaning of the word and mitigate the fear, it won't be long before femiphobia will graduate from a little known euphemism to become a bona fide part of our vocabulary, and will be found listed in every traditional dictionary.

Learn more about this author, Carol Gioia.
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