Womyn

[Colonello Buendia]

I'm not sure what this variant of the word women is meant to mean, if someone could explain...

[RedAnarchist]

I'm not sure what this variant of the word women is meant to mean, if someone could explain...

Some leftists, mainly Maoists, use it because they think the words women and woman are sexist.

[Jazzratt]

Some leftists, mainly Maoists, use it because they think the words women and woman are sexist.

A certain type of anarchist is also known for this behaviour.

[Prairie Fire]

I use that variant of spelling; it doesn't have a different meaning intended.

[Dros]

I don't know any Maoists on this board who do that...

I don't think it's a distinctly Maoist behavior. It's common to most radical feminists.

[Red October]

I don't know any Maoists on this board who do that...

I don't think it's a distinctly Maoist behavior. It's common to most radical feminists.

Agreed. I've seen it used by both anarchists and marxist-leninists.

[Kami]

It's common to most radical feminists.
If so, I hope the movement gets to more important things than misinterpreting the etymology of words.
To be frank, I know why it's done, but i still consider it just plain stupid. If you want to do something with language and *not* look like you have no idea what you're talking about, try stopping the use of "Man" to refer solely to males. The sexism in that is much plainer than in "woman".

[Demogorgon]

It is pretty silly. If you look into the etymology of the word "woman" you can see that there is no sexist basis for the word, nor is it used in a sexist context, so I don't see why we should worry about it.

[Kami]

It is pretty silly. If you look into the etymology of the word "woman" you can see that there is no sexist basis for the word, nor is it used in a sexist context, so I don't see why we should worry about it.


Dear god, I agree entirely with Demogorgon O.o
While we're on the subject, other things that are silly:
Persyn - alternative to supposedly sexist person. Yes, that's right. A word that just happens to contain within it, through complete coincidence, the word "son". Comes from latin "Persona".
Herstory - Now you're just paranoid.

[Dros]

To Demogorgon and Kami:

I hate to be the one to break this to you but the word "man" hasn't been gender neutral for about a millennium. All words that refer specifically to females contain within them the word that refers to males (case in point). There are all kinds of analyses about how this happened and why this is actually objectively very sexist and very degrading on a number of levels. But the larger point is, you don't get to decide what's sexist. I know a lot of people who find this language very oppressive and offensive and that's what makes it sexist. It has nothing at all to do with your subjective opinion.

[Annie K.]

And you don't decide either what's e"man"cipating.
If the words woman and women have been created or not with the intent of reducing females to incompleted males is not important, since the word womyn has been created to elevate females to entire hu"man" beings. It's sufficient.