According to Merriam-Webster the word of the year is “feminism” and considering the year we’ve had, that should come as a surprise to no one. As Entertainment Weekly reports:
According to Webster, look-ups for feminism spiked during news coverage of the Women’s March on Washington, D.C. in response to Trump’s inauguration. Another spike occurred when Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway said she didn’t consider herself a feminist, and the term received additional boosts from The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu and Warner Bros.’ release of Wonder Woman.
Following “feminism” were the words “complicit,” “recuse,” “empathy,” “dotard,” “syzygy,” “gyro,” “federalism,” “hurricane,” and “gaffe.” I gotta say I am really shocked that “collusion” was not also on the list, but then again Trump-related words look like they’ve gotten their fill of attention.
With a year that gave us the tragedy of a Trump presidency, and the Hollywood and workplace sexual harassment news coming out on nearly a daily pace, feminism has been a refuge for many. And we have had media successes with Wonder Woman, Big Little Lies, The Handmaid’s Tale, Lady Bird and more. Although no women were nominated at the Golden Globes for Best Director, which is a fucking travesty.
While feminism is far, far from perfect, once you’ve found the right place, it is a safe environment to promote thinking, growth, and (again in the right space), it can allow you to ask questions. So to all those who are trying to understand feminism, I hope you find the places where you can sprout into little baby feminists safely and securely. Because once you enter the forums … it gets harder.
The power of women is on the rise. @MerriamWebster has chosen #feminism as the word of the year. Because our voices ARE powerful. https://t.co/ejgDIFYqZ7 pic.twitter.com/BJ5r0tDtVn
— Women Employed (@WomenEmployed) December 12, 2017
Merriam-Webster said ‘Feminism’ was the most-looked-up word in its online dictionary, with the term generating 70% more searches than last year @CNN https://t.co/exszjKS75d #Feminism
— Samantha Barry (@samanthabarry) December 12, 2017
Merriam-Webster names ‘feminism’ as its word of the year | WOOT! #Feminism https://t.co/sTEJy6lFir pic.twitter.com/jiCSWuFUL8
— NCCJ (@NCCJtweets) December 12, 2017
‘#Feminism‘ is Merriam-Webster’s #2017 word of the year https://t.co/DI3C8mBYp3 via @politico
— LikeAGirlProductions (@likeagirlinc) December 12, 2017
(via EW, image: Tumblr/Screengrab)
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