{"id":7759,"date":"2014-11-20T17:17:38","date_gmt":"2014-11-20T23:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/?p=7759"},"modified":"2014-11-20T17:17:38","modified_gmt":"2014-11-20T23:17:38","slug":"whats-in-a-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/2014\/11\/20\/whats-in-a-word\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s in a Word?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Deborah Siegel points on in her latest post here at Girl w\/Pen<\/a>, there\u2019s an abundance of not very helpful \u2018noise\u2019 in the media these days about feminists and feminism. My vote for the most unhelpful contribution to a serious discussion of feminist goals is last week\u2019s inclusion of \u2018feminist\u2019 in Time<\/em> magazine\u2019s 2015 annual online poll \u201cWhich Word Should Be Banished\u201d. <\/a><\/p>\n

Reaction to the poll was swift. Time<\/em> quickly apologized in the wake of protests from groups and individuals proud to identify with the rich history and ongoing work of feminists. (see a few examples here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>) Time<\/em> also published a thoughtful, powerful essay by Robin Morgan, \u201cFeminism is a 21st<\/sup> Century Word\u201d.<\/a> Morgan discussed the history and definition of feminism, noting the simplicity of the dictionary wording: \u201cthe theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time\u2019s<\/em> apology for the inclusion of \u2018feminist\u2019 in their poll included the following statement, \u201cWhile we meant to invite debate about some ways the word was used this year, that nuance was lost, and we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, end of kerfuffle, on to the next news cycle, right?\u00a0\u00a0 Not so fast. Aside from the fact that Time<\/em> apologized but didn\u2019t actually remove \u2018feminist\u2019 from the list, anyone who thinks the episode was an isolated, unimportant case of poor judgment runs the risk of engaging in wishful thinking. The poll \u201c\u2026meant to invite debate about the ways the word was used this year\u201d did nothing of the sort. Yes, it was an opportunity for feminists to speak clearly and publicly about the legacy and the work of feminists. But reasoned debate that included those outside the feminist community? Not so much. Rather, the poll provided a revealing glimpse of the depth of misogyny embedded in our culture. \u00a0Too many still think it\u2019s fine to denigrate women and to dismiss objections to the trivialization of \u00a0‘feminist’ as \u2018humorless\u2019, or angry man hating, or the knee jerk reactions of rigid ideologues.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m disheartened that the experienced journalists at Time<\/em> were unable to foresee the impact of their word choice. But, then again, power can be a blindfold. The inclusion of \u2018feminist\u2019 among trivial phrases<\/a> such as \u201c I can\u2019t even\u2019, and \u2018sorry not sorry\u2019 and words like \u2018kale\u2019 and \u2018influencer\u2019 fostered ridicule rather than thoughtful debate. The list was a perfect opportunity for those who troll the Internet with snarky remarks about anyone who is not a white heterosexual male. The ones who attempt to disguise hatred as humor and fool no one.<\/p>\n

And yes, I know, I get it, this is the tone of many discussions these days: take no prisoners, relentlessly ridicule anyone you disagree with, and never allow data or conflicting evidence to creep into a viewpoint. In such an environment, the idea that feminism is not women against<\/em> men, but a complex belief in the equality of women and<\/em> men is lost. Those in the \u2018be sure, hang tough, any disagreement is a personal attack\u2019 crowd rarely see the worth of a discussion in which various perspectives are heard, viewpoints are expanded and mutual learning takes place. Forgetting the full range of responses generated by the poll \u00a0and what they reveal about our current cultural divides is dangerous.<\/p>\n

My father liked to quote \u201csticks and stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you\u201d in advising his children to ignore the teasing of friends. I\u2019m not so sure. Words can hurt. Either\/or dialogue kills discussion, shuts off communication, amplifies disagreement, and obscures commonalities. Without thoughtful dialogue, dialogue that includes respect for differing perspectives and experiences as well as a tolerance for ambiguity, I fear we will never achieve the just and equitable world so many of us envision.<\/p>\n

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As Deborah Siegel points on in her latest post here at Girl w\/Pen, there\u2019s an abundance of not very helpful \u2018noise\u2019 in the media these days about feminists and feminism. My vote for the most unhelpful contribution to a serious discussion of feminist goals is last week\u2019s inclusion of \u2018feminist\u2019 in Time magazine\u2019s 2015 annual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1924,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21114],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-second-look"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1924"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7760,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7759\/revisions\/7760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/girlwpen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}