THE LANGUAGE OF SEXISM

I once wrote a poem about the etymology of the word hysteria, how it comes from the Greek word for uterus; how there has never been hysteria without women, and according to much of what history has to speak of us, there have not been women without hysteria. The language that has evolved over centuries has not evolved too far from its misogynistic roots. We still use words every day that assert gendered stereotypes that ultimately perpetuate the war on women. Even the meaning of the word woman is up for parliamentary debate, for there has also not been, and never been, women without men’s attempt to define us. 

If words are bricks, then they have built a picture that paints women as redundant, secondary. Words such as manmade, mankind, manpower– men as default, women as anomaly. If man is the original, then woman is merely a prefix, a second thought. With men writing the laws, the manifestos, and religious teachings, it is to be understood that predominantly all understandings of our existence are captured through the eyes of man, and written in words that sit ever-so comfortably in his mouth. It is man who centers man, man who sidelines woman. It is woman who gives birth and man who writes her out of creation — and the mutualism between language and sexism does not merely exacerbate it, it cements it.

While words like hysteria have their origins in sexism, it does not eradicate the mass of language that has accumulated negative associations over time. Words such as bossy, ball-buster, stroppy, dramatic, catty, bitchy, shrew, diva. The list goes on. When you think of these words and times in which you may have used them, how often do they tend to be towards women, instead of men? Fundamentally, these words are neutral, and yet they have been negatively charged by the pervasive power of misogyny. I cannot help but assume the weaponization of these words is an attempt to control women, to prevent us from wanting to be seen as boss-y and ultimately save the big seat for the men. They call us dramatic to make us abstain from showing emotion. Oh, and we must always, always be polite! Because if we’re not, then characteristically we are flawed, labelled, reduced to a dog. It is always about reducing us, and in turn, we learn to reduce ourselves, internalise the misogyny and exclude ourselves from tables we are repeatedly, repeatedly being told we do not belong at. If words are bricks, they have forgotten to build us a room.

Language built the weapons of this war, but the tongue is a gun that could also tackle it. The more we each listen and learn about the power of language, the ways in which it ensnares us between the palms of the patriarchy, the more chance we have of overcoming it. The language you use everyday, whether aware of it or not, may be an active perpetuation of sexism. And while it may seem futile to fixate on the smaller problems, language is the foundation of our understanding, so I think it’s time to rewrite our story. Centering women, not as deviations or faulted versions of men, but as origins in their own right. If words are bricks, it is time we tear down this house. If words are bricks, it is time we rebuild this entire fucking system.