In a sign that liberal “feminists” have outlasted their welcome on the cultural stage, in TIME’s annual list of Words to Be Banned, “feminist” made the cut.
Readers were asked to vote for one of a variety of somewhat annoying modern vernacular including “obvi”, “sorry not sorry”, “bossy”, “om nom nom nom”, and several others:
A nifty little description was provided for each word, which is particularly helpful for those of us who are unaware that words like “turnt” are even a thing. “Feminist” was described as follows:
feminist: 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? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.
Nailed it.
Predictably, outrage ensued. But before the band of homely harpies got wise to the poll, “feminist” was actually killing it in TIME’s poll, pulling in as much as 51% of the vote at one point.
Lena Dunham and others took to Twitter to fight against the oppression of democracy in action:
The link Dunham tweeted is to a Facebook page imploring uses to proudly click, “I’m a Feminist!” But this isn’t a grassroots Facebook page organized by a rag tag group of incensed “feminists,” it’s a link to a Planned Parenthood Action page. Dunham is a Planned Parenthood Celebrity spokeswoman who found herself in a whole heap of trouble a few weeks ago after her book revealed unsettling details about her sexual interactions with her younger sister.
Never an organization to pass up the opportunity to engage in blatant hypocrisy, Planned Parenthood defined “feminist” as, “a person who believes that all people should have the same rights, access to health care, and opportunities to succeed.” Of course these same rights aren’t applicable to the unborn if you’re part of the Planed Parenthood pro-infanticide crowd.
With mounting pressure and astroturf campaigns breathing down their neck, TIME capitulated and removed “feminist” from the list of Words to Ban in 2015. They added the following apology:
Editor’s Note:
TIME apologizes for the execution of this poll; the word ‘feminist’ should not have been included in a list of words to ban. While we meant to invite debate about some ways the word was used this year, that nuance was lost, and we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.
–Nancy Gibbs
The “debate about some ways the word was used this year” is precisely what these “feminists” want to avoid, lest they be exposed as frauds. They’ve co-opted “feminist” to mean whatever they want it to mean to suit the issue and outrage du jour. Seldom does modern usage of the term fall within the same galaxy as traditional feminism.
So much for democracy in action, freedom of expression, and free speech; ideals simply intolerable to “feminists.”
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