Alternative spellings of woman: Difference between revisions

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'''Womyn''' is a term used by many [[Radical feminism|radical feminists]] to take the "men" out of the word ''women''. Other spellings meant to perform the same function include "wimmin" (plural), wom!n, and "''womb''an" (see [[womb]]). A common singular form, to refer to one person, is [[womon]]. Radical feminists will argue that it is a woman's right to choose whether she prefers to use the spelling "womyn". They state that it is based on the medieval spelling of the word. Some would argue that returning to the old model of wyfman and waeman meaning man and woman, respectively, would be more egalitarian and would also return man to meaning human.
 
Some point to these terms, especially the lesser-used ones, as an example of [[political correctness]] run amok or even of [[reverse sexism|anti-male gender bias]]. Those who promote them, on the other hand, argue that language shapes perceptions and ideas about [[gender identity|gender]] and [[gender roles]], and that its current form does not greatly value [[women]]. Therefore, some [[feminists]] see these sorts of words as the beginnings of a movement to correct what they consider inherent biases in language. However, some would cite [[George Orwell]]'s [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]] as a reason to be suspicious of any attempt to "correct" language; furthermore, the assertion that [[language and thought|language affects thought]] to that degree has so far found little [[empirical]] support in studies testing the [[Sapir-Whorf hypothesis]].