![]() The problem arrives with how Oxford – and naysayers – responds to the concern.Īs of September, Giovanardi’s petition has gathered over 34,000 signatures. Framing women in a negative light is pretty much engrained in us. ![]() Admittedly, I have to train myself not to call a woman a bitch if we get in a heated argument. Now, I don’t think Oxford’s decision to associate such words with women makes them a villain. Instead, someone simply seeking “women” now links her to unprovoked insults. What is stopping the dictionary from defining bitch this way? By Oxford standards, it would appropriately reflect society because the person seeking the offensive term would learn of its derogatory use against women. “There’s so much judgement imposed on this definition.” “ The fact that there is so much resistance actually proves it’s obvious how blatantly misogynistic this is” says Giovanardi. ![]() Instead, a male-centric lens is identifying and enforcing how women are portrayed, and packaging it as a truth universally acknowledged. Percival wrote that, “any discrepancy between the representation of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ is a reflection of how language is used in day-to-day life.” If the conversations I have with my female friends are any indication of a larger consensus, there are plenty disrespectful forms of address for men that have conveniently been forgotten. Unless of course, it isn’t about how everyone sees men and women. Nor are there examples of how to disrespectfully address them. Interestingly enough, Google and Lexico do not extend this method to words associated with men. “Our dictionaries provide an accurate representation of language, even where it means recording senses and example uses of words that are offensive or derogatory, and which we wouldn’t necessarily employ ourselves,” the comment reads, supplied by Ella Percival, Oxford’s Interim Head of Communications. While they label these words as offensive, Oxford says their editorial approach publishes based on evidence of how people use English daily. ![]() Oxford University Press dictionaries “reflect, rather than dictate, how language is used,” according to a pre-written comment from an unnamed spokesperson. Similarly, in Lexico, powered by Oxford, example sentences for “daft woman” fall under the category specified for “disrespectful form of address.” This is also found in the premium version of the Oxford Dictionary. Google is one of the Oxford Language-powered search engines. This September will be the one-year anniversary of Maria Beatrice Giovanardi launching a petition requesting Oxford Dictionary remove the misogynistic synonyms they define under woman. My worry is that these negative associations, unchecked, can directly influence how we actually treat women. The dictionary defines, teaches, and tells us what a woman is and how the world sees her. There is no creative expression in question. The dictionary’s sole purpose is to educate. What makes the dictionary’s contribution different than music, film, or television, is that we cannot point fingers and write think pieces on empowered women accused of being bad role models or how men marginalize them. What can be said for a culture making women synonymous with property, an accessory to men, or unpleasant? I believe it creates an environment where misogyny thrives.Īnd if it’s happening to influential politicians like AOC on the steps of the Capitol, it is happening to every woman. What may seem like nothing more than examples of what we call women, actually points to an issue of how we teach others to perceive them. But where does it come from?įor starters, when you Google “ woman”, the synonyms “ piece”, “ baggage”, and “ bitch” appear. We can blame the entertainment industry, the media, or tell ourselves that this has always been the case, but the fact is that women are consistently subjected to offensive names. Now, what do AOC and this young lady have in common? They are both women, making them targets of abusive language – whether they are commuting, earning money, or representing their congressional district. Despite her efforts, men still yelled “bitch” and “slut” as they drove by. She was trying to avoid uninvited attention from men before she even had the chance to clock into work. I know a woman who at 19, wore baggy hoodies over business casual dresses in 30-degree weather to wait for the bus. When congressman Ted Yoho called congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a bitch, she said his words did not pierce her.
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