I know "womyn" is in the FAQ but I found something on Wikipedia about it

Something about this entry doesn't seem right to me. It's incomplete and their use of the term "radical feminists" seems a bit biased to me. Since anyone can edit the entry what would you recommend?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womyn

Womyn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.


Womyn is a term used by many radical feminists to take the "men" out of the word women. Other spellings meant to perform the same function include "wimmin" (plural), and "womban" (see womb). A common singular form, to refer to one person, is womon.

Similar in spirit is the term herstory in place of history.

Some point to these terms, especially the lesser-used ones, as an example of political correctness run amok or even of anti-male gender bias. Those who promote them, on the other hand, argue that language shapes perceptions and ideas about gender and gender roles, and that its current form does not greatly value women. Therefore, some feminists see these sorts of words as the beginnings of a movement to correct what they consider inherent biases in language. However, some would cite George Orwell's 1984 as a reason to be suspicious of any attempt to "correct" language; furthermore, the assertion that language affects thought to that degree has so far found little empirical support in studies testing the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

 

Stilanis, this is from one of those misogynist groups which have a problem with everything womyn do. Look at the language "as an example of political correctness run amok or even of anti-male gender bias. " This is straight out of jiimaan territory! LOL!

Most feminists do NOT use the word "herstory" but anti-womyn people like to make others think they do.

jiimaan and his alteregos were using Wikipedia all the time. "WOMON?"

There is a LOT on the internet I choose to ignore. Thanks for the heads up, though.

Love and kisses,

Maggie

 

Here, I've edited it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Womyn

 

Just out of curiosity...why DO you spell the word "womyn" if not for anti-male bias? I've noticed that every female I've ever met who spells it that way is a stereotypical man-hating lesbian.

That's certainly not to say that everyone who spells it that way is a man-hating lesbian...but if you don't have any problem with men, what's the problem with having the word "men" in the word "women"? Doesn't feminism have bigger fish to fry than changing the commonly-accepted spelling of words?

I'm not trying to be antagonistic. I merely ask to learn.

 

Please refer to the FAQ on that matter.

http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49931

 

one would really have to hate their gender to go as far to initiate a term change. and man not only speks for maleness but for mankind, human being as a whole. We should look at each other as a society rather than an incividual gender

 

Yes, language should remain unchanging, static and status quo. Dost thou not feel this, prithee, good wyfe? Pray tell?

 

It's not like our modern language is BETTER than Shakespearean language...it's just different.

Language evolves over time, of course. But I don't understand this active campaign to change the spelling of the word "women." It isn't offensive, it isn't sexist, it just is what it is. What's the big deal?

 

I've never heard people get into such a tizzy over the spelling of a damn word! Who cares how anyone spells anything? What about phish, phamily, phree, kynd, etc. No one gets worked up over these "incorrect" spellings. How about color, colour? It's not a big deal. Sheesh.

 

The wikki website is not a political group. It is an open encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to or edit. While the person that added that entry to their site might have an agenda, the wikki group is about communication and sharing information.

 

No, Mike, not Wikki, the definition that was given was taken off of a misogynist site. Sorry for the confusion. Wikki is fine. jiimaan was probably using his own definitions while using Wikki, too.

 

It's not man-hating, more of a declaration that women are not an addition to man. We are our own separate, equally valid entity. Does that make sense? It's hard for me to express clearly.... Simone De Beauvior's The Second Sex explains it far more eloquently.

Personally, I find the spelling "womyn" aesthetically unpleasing. I never use it.

One note on radical feminism: although the phrase is quite often used hatefully -- think Rush Limbaugh's "femi-nazi" designation -- radical feminism is a legitimate, well-developed school of feminist thought. I don't subscribe to its ideas, just wanted to throw that out there.

 

"Herstory". Heeh. Thanks for the giggle.

 

Language geek moment: I don't think anyone actually uses that. If they did, they'd be complete idiots. The origin of the word history has nothing to do with the word "his". It's from the Greek "histori," which means "an inquiry."

 

You are right. Like I said, misogyists like to TELL people that "radical feminists" use words like "herstory" just to devalue feminism, and make anyone who doesn't use the words they feel are appropriate look like an idiot. I don't know anyone who uses "herstory."

Again, the usage of "womyn" is just personal choice. It makes no difference to me if others use it or not.

 

That's odd. I thought she wrote in French where the words for woman and man are la femme and l'homme respectively.

Also I agree about "herstory." The only feminists I've seen using it were using it in jest or as a pun. I never got the impression from its use of a desire to make that the standard spelling.

 

The herstory thing sounds like something that they would make up in a skit on Saturday Night Live. Yeah, no one I knows uses it. I hadn't even heard of that before I read this thread.

 

What you say is true, though. Everything has a meaning and purpose, and to argue that changing the spelling from women to womyn is merely a matter of "choice" and therefore of no significance, is utter nonsense.

What's interesting is that while feminists deny that spelling women "womyn" doesn't denote a hatred of men, they always seems to have issues with words like actress as opposed to actor.

Also, in terms of the fabricated word "herstory"--I've only seen it used by feminists in the context of eliminating "his" because it suggests that history of "his story" and excludes women. Here's an example:

http://library.usask.ca/herstory/herstory.html

 

I forget in which thread it was, but someone was wondering why mensturation is men-struation... it's actually from the word mensis, meaning month or monthly. It's not a sexist term, it just turned out to have the same start as men