What is indigyny?
Riding off the back of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality, indigyny is a term that describes the intersecting experience of misogyny and anti-Indigenous racism. It was coined by personal friends of mine and I have been using it in my everyday vocabulary since then, and I encourage you to do the same!
Examples of indigynistic stereotypes:
The sexy Indian princess: hypersexualizing or fetishizing Native women
The aggressive, masculine, or exceptionally strong Indigenous woman
The crazy, insane, or stupid Indigenous woman
Many of these stereotypes loop back to the same ideas of us being ‘uncivilized’ or even ‘barely human.’
Indigyny in action:
Assuming any Indigenous woman being direct, showing emotion, or voicing concerns is being ‘rude’ or ‘aggressive’
Socially murdering Indigenous women for the above or for mistakes that would not ruin the lives of their male or white female counterparts
The dismissal of Indigenous women’s symptoms (both physical and mental) by society AND medical professionals; the assumption that we are stronger and can withstand more emotional or physical pain/trauma
Gender delegitimization: Indigenous women being told they look, act, or sound ‘manly’ or any variation
The usage of the word squ*w, used to paint us as fundamentally inhuman or uncivilized compared to white women
The rate of missing and murdered Indigenous women and the societal blind eye that has been turned x
The sexual violence rate against Indigenous women, often exacerbated and justified by myths of us being ‘whores’ x
And so much more!
NOTE: indigyny is a term applicable to women and girls (or sometimes culturally gendered people) from Indigenous communities all over the world. This post was made by a Turtle Islander and thus my perspective is limited, but the application of this term is not.
RELATED TERMS: transindigyny, indigynoir, indigi-lesbophobia
