The F-word discussion

Merriam-Webster has declared 'feminism' as the 'Word of the Year' for 2017.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/12/world/f...

The definitions that M-W include:

"the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes"
"organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests."


There are other related words listed in the article linked above!

This makes me happy, not so much that Merriam-Webster chose the word, but because it was chosen due to the fact that so many people were looking up the definition.

We've talked in this group before about how many people are turned off by the concept of "feminism", primarily because they don't understand what it really means. A co-worker and a friend once said something to the effect of "I mean, I wouldn't call myself a feminist, but..." I don't even remember what she went on to say after that.

But she is, even if she doesn't realize it. She's a young woman in the workforce, who has, after only a year of working here, made a huge promotion because it was something she was interested in and she went for it. She has a son, but she and her husband have a great working relationship in that if her son is sick, she's not the one who always has to leave work to take care of him. If she wants to go see a movie with friends after work one day, he doesn't stand in her way. (She doesn't have to ask him permission, either. Making sure their schedules don't conflict is not the same as asking permission.)

She believes that men and women should be considered equal. She believes in the importance of social justice. She's well-educated and, yes, privileged, which she acknowledges.

But she doesn't consider herself a feminist because her understanding of feminism is that means she must think of herself as better than men, or that she can't be a Catholic if she's also a feminist. It's really strange for me to wrap my head around some of those thought processes because that's not where I come from. For someone so well-educated, she's still fearful and, in a way, ignorant.

My hope is that the M-W declaration of the Word of the Year will help people (like her, and others) understand it's not such a scary thing to be a feminist.

I find that interesting.
Those who oppose equality have managed to do a hatchet job on the word.

Feminists are lesbians, have poor hygiene, are violent, hate all men...or heaven forbid are intellectuals. You hear it all and honestly the word is tarnished.

The misinformation is mind-boggling. I honestly don't know how feminism can find wide community acceptance but I think it's an important step. When people can say it without cringing I think we'll have come a long way.