A woman in the UK started a petition to change Oxford Dictionary‘s currently accepted synonyms for the word “woman,” and has already received 30,000 signatures.
Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, 28, discovered that suggested synonyms for woman included ‘mare,’ ‘wench,’ ‘piece,’ ‘baggage,’ and ‘bitch’ among other derogatory terms during a recent internet search.
Giovanardi asserts in her petition that the Oxford Dictionary‘s definition of ‘woman’ includes several negative terms as meaning the same thing. “This sexist dictionary must change,” she states in her call to action on Change.org. “Over a third of young women aged between 18 to 24 have been targeted by online abuse,” Giovanardi sates. “We can take a serious step towards reducing the harm this is causing our young women and girls by looking at our language — and this starts with the dictionary.”
She goes on to criticize Oxford for the sentences they use to further exemplify the definition of woman and how it could be used in context. Examples she provided include “Ms. September will embody the professional, intelligent yet sexy career woman,” and, “I told you to be home when I get home, little woman.”
“These examples show women as sex objects, subordinate, and/or an irritation to men,” Giovanardi claims. She calls on Oxford to change their definition of woman in three ways. “This petition is to ask Oxford University Press to: Eliminate all phrases and definitions that discriminate against and patronise women and/or connote men’s ownership of women; Enlarge the dictionary’s entry for ‘woman’; Include examples representative of minorities, for example, a transgender woman, a lesbian woman, etc.”
Oxford responded to the petition, which launched in June, by posting a statement to their blog site. “Firstly, the petition refers variously to ‘Oxford’s English Dictionary online’ and ‘the Oxford English Dictionary’. It is worth noting that none of the content mentioned in the petition appears in the Oxford English Dictionary (oed.com), which is a scholarly dictionary covering the full history of English,” the statement said in part. “The content discussed in the petition derives from the Oxford Thesaurus of English and the Oxford Dictionary of English, which aim to cover contemporary English usage and are accessible online in a variety of formats.”
Others were less sure that the petition was rooted in a full understanding of the facts. A self-identified feminist explained that GIovanardi’s request of Oxford was not in line with the reality of language. “Lobbying dictionaries to make their definitions fit your political preferences is misguided,” said Debbie Cameron.
This was actually a pretty throwaway suggestion at the end of a long list of other demands. But even if it hadn’t been, the anger about it is misplaced. Lobbying dictionaries to make their definitions fit your political preferences is misguided—(which is why I didn’t sign)/2
— Debbie Cameron (@wordspinster) September 18, 2019
Oxford also explained that synonyms and usage of words was something that changed with culture and time. “The relationship between the dictionary and the living language is more like a map than a set of directions,” the statement explained. “It can tell you the contours of the landscape, but not direct you on where to go or how to get there. As the usage of English speakers changes over time, the dictionary changes to reflect that new lexical terrain.”
The synonyms pointed out by Giovanardi and others are labeled as “derogatory” and “offensive” terms and by Oxford.
