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That word, I mean non-word, womxn: how to say it

(149 Posts)
Baggs Sat 12-Sep-20 13:26:01

I'm not going to say it out loud but I read it sometimes and wonder how I should be pronouncing it in my head.

Suggestions, please (apart from "oh, for god's sake!", obv).

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 20:40:25

Great point Trisher.

And can we PLEASE get over the made up word thing? It's a new word. They happen all the time. Some make it into the dictionary, some don't.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 20:40:49

Do your research trisher. The reason it is being discussed now is it was used recently be ted talks as a way to be more inclusive, in other words to include men. That's why numerous feminists including janice turner julie bindel are discussing it and objecting to it. It has been covered in both mainstream media and social media.
Gagajo I dont really know where to start with explaining why including men in the category of woman is misogyny.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 20:42:17

It's amazing how all these new words apply to women and not men.

Sparkling Sat 12-Sep-20 20:42:46

Never heard of the word. It’s beyond stupid.

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 20:47:45

Why not try Galaxy? Because to my pov, they're not men.

Callistemon Sat 12-Sep-20 20:49:22

trisher

It's pronounced "wominks" and it is just the latest in feminism's attempts to lose the word woman or women because the word uses "man" and so some think diminishes women. The others include wymyn and wimmin. Really it's been a debate for over 50 years why make such a fuss now?

And can we PLEASE get over the made up word thing
No. It is the meaning of the word that is important, not the word itself. And whoever made it up - that's relevant.

And - absolute bollox. I don't care how it's pronounced.
Wominksn! Frankly, my dear, I don't give a s**t.

Doodledog Sat 12-Sep-20 20:50:30

I'm with suziewoozie on this one.

Whether or not the word was coined by self-defining feminists doesn't make any difference to how I feel about the concept. It neutralises women, and the fact that there is not an equivalent term to encompass men and transmen says it all, really. There are 'men' and 'those who are not men', which includes transwomen and those who self-define as such.

This does not mean that I am anti-trans, trans-exclusionary or otherwise radical - it simply means that I am concerned about the anti-feminism that appears to be sweeping the globe along with the swing to the right, and I don't think that the two things are unconnected. When I first read The Handmaid's Tale years ago I was shocked by it, but saw it as science fiction. Now it seems worryingly prophetic.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 20:52:57

Because they are men gagajo. In the same way if I as a white person said I was black it would be deeply racist.

Callistemon Sat 12-Sep-20 21:13:07

I'm with suziewoozie on this one.
Me Too

Although that has been appropriated.

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 21:40:14

Depends Galaxy. I have a friend, half black. She has a sister. Same (black) father. Her sister identifies as black because she grew up in the afro Carribbean culture. No one that doesn't know her background knows she's black because to the observer, she's white. But her own daughter (white father) is obviously mixed race.

Black woman, white skin.
Woman inside. Penis outside.

Not for others to decide who or what we are.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 21:47:30

For God's sake I nearly but in a qualifying statement about no black ancestry but thought it wasnt necessary. I am white with no black ancestry can I identify as black.
I have no idea what a woman is in the sentence you have just uttered.

Iam64 Sat 12-Sep-20 21:48:50

Im with those who feel this is another attempt to marginalise women. Feminists did try to find another way of describing wimin without using wo'man'. I was a wimin for some times but I was so much younger then...... I'm still a Ms.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 21:49:45

Can my 15 year old son attend playgroup. After all its not for others to decide who or what we are.

flopen Sat 12-Sep-20 21:52:16

As far as I'm concerned, you can think that you are whatever you like.
But you have no right to make me, or society, accept that identity. But, unfortunately, we have ended up in that position.

Callistemon Sat 12-Sep-20 21:53:33

Galaxy

For God's sake I nearly but in a qualifying statement about no black ancestry but thought it wasnt necessary. I am white with no black ancestry can I identify as black.
I have no idea what a woman is in the sentence you have just uttered.

As I have not had a DNA Test I have no idea of my ancestry.
I do know, however, that my GrandmotherX? came from Africa and was probably black.

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 22:10:33

I think Callistemon, the key is in the identification. You can choose to identify as mixed race, or you can choose to identify as white. My daughter is half American. She chooses to only identify as English because that is what she feels she is.

In that case flopen I assume you have no problem with others failing to respect your choice to be accepted as a woman.

How arrogant, thinking outsiders get a say in an individual's identification. So anti feminist.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 22:18:53

Feminism is about women not about men. Again can my 15 year old go to playgroup. If not why not. It is not for others to decide who we are.

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 22:23:07

Feminism these days is about equal rights for everyone.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 22:24:02

Gay rights is about equal rights for everyone these days.

Doodledog Sat 12-Sep-20 22:25:05

GagaJo

Feminism these days is about equal rights for everyone.

Isn’t that egalitarianism?

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 22:25:18

The fight for equal rights for people with disabilities is about all those who have no disabilities.

Callistemon Sat 12-Sep-20 22:27:26

Feminism these days is about equal rights for everyone.
Does that include women (without an X)?

GagaJo Sat 12-Sep-20 22:27:29

No. It's feminism because historically, it was for women. Intersectional feminism opened the movement up beyond the white middle class female model it predominantly supported during 2nd wave feminism.

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 22:28:47

Female model ?

Galaxy Sat 12-Sep-20 22:29:36

Imagine feminism prioritising women. The nerve of those women.