We Spleen: TIME‘s “Feminist” Hate-Fest
( I guess their regular, oh-so-hopeful question "is feminism dead?" doesn't receive quite enough attention. and who in the hell is using the word on that list--most of which I have never seen or heard??)
We Spleen: TIMEs Feminist Hate-Fest
Feminist. Feminist. Feminist. Screw you, TIME!
That was my immediate reaction when I read that TIME had included feminist on a list of choices for its annual worst words poll, where readers can select the inescapable and overused buzzword of the year that they never want to hear again. The criteria for such distasteful words:
If you hear that word one more time, you will definitely cringe. You may exhale pointedly. And you might even seek out the nearest pair of chopsticks and thrust them through your own eardrums like straws through plastic lids.
(In the past, words such as twerk, OMG and YOLO have won).
In her explanation for including feminist in the poll, TIME correspondent Katy Steinmetz wrote:
You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Lets stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.
First off, where are these Susan B. Anthony parades happening because that sounds incredible and way more fun than the ones I throw by myself in my apartment.
And second, we here at Ms. think the feminist moment were having right now is a great thing, something to be celebrated. That the word feminist has blitzed into the zeitgeist on such a scale that its now a question bound to pop up in celebrity interviews helps to kill the perception that feminism is some radical fringe movement. Theres nothing fringe-y about it.
Feminism is just, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie put it, a belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes. Its not some flash-in-the-pan pop culture trope, its a social movement thats helped to put issues like reproductive justice, equal pay, sexual assault and domestic violence on the map.
Sadly, feminism is leading the pack in ban it! votes. But, according to a report at Jezebel, it looks like the knuckle-dragging trolls over at the misogynistic 4Chan are responsible for that. Jezebel shared a screenshot taken from one of the 4Chan forums where everyone is being pushed to vote for feminist in the poll, with one user posting, Lets trigger some bitches. See the depressing TIME results for yourself below:
. . . .
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2014/11/12/we-spleen-times-feminist-hate-fest/