Esther Pineda G., often published as Esther Pineda, is a Venezuelan sociologist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

writer. She has written sociological studies, essay collections, and poetic anthologies about misogyny in the history of Western philosophy, the connection between machismo and violence against women, and racial discrimination, particularly against

Afro-Venezuelans Afro-Venezuelans ( Spanish: ''Afrovenezolanos'') are Venezuelans of African descent. About 4% of the Venezuelan population self-identify as "black" or "Afro-descendant", although most Venezuelans are mixed with African ancestry. Afro-Venezuelans ...

. Pineda holds a PhD in sociology, and her writing frequently uses tools of sociological analysis.

Education

Pineda attended the Central University of Venezuela, graduating in 2010. She continued to study there as a graduate student, earning an MS degree in women's studies in 2013, and a doctorate in social sciences in 2015. She completed postdoctoral training there, also in social sciences, in 2017.

Career

Professional positions

Pineda has been a regular columnist for outlets in several South American countries and Europe, including Uruguay's ''La Red 21'' ( es), Montenegro's ''Wall Street International'', Spain's ''Iberoamérica Social'' ( es), and Venezuela's ''Contrapunto'' ( es).

Books

Pineda has also published several books. In 2011, she published ''Roles de género y sexismo en seis discursos sobre la familia nuclear'', a collection of six anthropological discourses on the way that sexist models of behaviour are enforced in the context of the

nuclear family A nuclear family, elementary family, cereal-packet family or conjugal family is a family group consisting of parents and their children (one or more), typically living in one home residence. It is in contrast to a single-parent family, the larger ...

. In 2014, she published ''Racismo, endorracismo y resistencia'', a discussion of race and racism in Venezuela that was written with support by the Venezuelan Ministry of Culture. In ''Racismo, endorracismo y resistencia'', she challenges the cliché that history, in the case of Venezuela, is written by the victors; rather, she argues that the writers of Venezuelan history perpetrated a genocide against both Indigenous peoples in Venezuela and

, and that to be a victor implies that a legitimate fight was held on equal terms, whereas repression in Venezuela has not historically been a balanced fight. She also reflects on the cultural legacy of the

white savior The term white savior is a critical description of a white person who is depicted as liberating, rescuing or uplifting non-white people; it is critical in the sense that it describes a pattern in which people of color in economically under-deve ...

myth in Venezuelan culture and politics. A review of ''Racismo, endorracismo y resistencia'' in the outlet ''

Aporrea Aporrea is a Venezuelan website that publishes news and opinions from a left-wing perspective. It ranks as the fourth most visited local political site in the country, according to site metrics Alexa.com, and it claims to be the first among local ...

'' drew connections between Pineda's argument and those of other contemporary Venezuelan writers, while arguing that the topics investigated in ''Racismo, endorracismo y resistencia'' remain under-discussed. In 2017, Pineda published the book ''Machismo y vindicación: La mujer en el pensamiento sociofilosófico''. In ''Machismo y vindicación'', Pineda studies the role of misogyny in historical Western thought, arguing that discrimination against women is a central feature of Western philosophy. She traces women's role in Western thought through 19th and 20th century thinkers who rejected the claim that social differences between women and men are naturally guaranteed, and she connects these arguments to the contemporary phenomenon of machismo. Pineda describes the effects of machismo culture, citing data on violence against women to argue that macho violence constitutes a silent massacre of women. In 2019, she published the book ''Cultura femicida''.

Themes

In her work, Pineda has studied themes of machismo and misogyny in philosophy and sociology, gender stereotypes and roles within the family institution, violence against women, and sexism in the media such as in the popularity of beauty pageants and the portrayal of women in video games. She has popularized the concept through using the term ''violencia estética'' (aesthetic violence) to describe the damaging and discriminatory pressure on women to respond to prevailing ideas of beauty. Pineda has also devoted a large part of her writing to the study of racial discrimination, especially racist discrimination against Afro-Venezuelans. She has written on topics like the

hypersexualization Sexualization (or sexualisation) is to make something sexual in character or quality or to become aware of sexuality, especially in relation to men and women. Sexualization is linked to sexual objectification. According to the American Psychologi ...

of Black women, racism in daily life, and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

. She has also written extensively on the topic of ''endorracismo'' (endoracism), which is the perpetuation of racist tropes and behaviours by people who are themselves victims of racist discrimination.

Selected works

* ''Roles de género y sexismo en seis discursos sobre la familia nuclear'' (2011) * ''Racismo, endorracismo y resistencia'' (2014) * ''Machismo y vindicación. La mujer en el pensamiento sociofilosófico'' (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pineda G, Esther Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Venezuelan women writers Venezuelan women sociologists Venezuelan feminists