# Your opinion of the word "Womyn" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510 "2006-08-13T02:22:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/41 "2006-08-13T06:23:45Z")
When I was on the editorial board of a journal in my field, we had a huge brouhaha over a line in an article - the word “seminal” was replaced with “foundational” because of the “semin-” root. I guess it ultimately didn’t matter because the words mean essentially the same thing, but that was a pretty heated discussion… ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/42 "2006-08-13T06:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] Sure. Do you feel the same way about calling everyone “women”? [/QUOTE] I was joking. And I’m female, FWIW. I have no problem with “women” and I think “womyn” is ridiculous and unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/43 "2006-08-13T06:45:46Z")
It’s a useful window into an endemic pathology of modern feminism. Passive, dictatorial and trivial. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/44 "2006-08-13T08:48:22Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Actually, [“woman” means “ **wife** of man.”](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=woman) Yes, that’s what it means. [/QUOTE] No, that’s what it _used to_ mean. Now it just means “female human being.” ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/45 "2006-08-13T09:00:25Z")
[QUOTE=Sevastopol] It’s a useful window into an endemic pathology of modern feminism. Passive, dictatorial and trivial. [/QUOTE] Or it’s just yet another example of silly extremists run amok. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/46 "2006-08-13T09:35:36Z")
Eh. I’ve got a few friends who use it, and yes you’d probably describe them as “tree-hugging, moon-howling, Birkenstock-wearing nutballs”. Although in reality they’re none of those things - they’re good people trying to figure out the world and what their place in it is. So put me down for a helping of “I’d never use it myself, but it doesn’t cause me to view anyone who does as mentally defective”. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/47 "2006-08-13T09:43:08Z")
I think it’s stupid. Do They use “humyn” as well? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/48 "2006-08-13T10:53:42Z")
[QUOTE=TVeblen] Another stupid, counter-productive idea by navel gazers who don’t have enough sense or guts to tackle real problems. I’m an unapologetic feminist from way back who long ago resigned herself that there’s no concept so sensible that blithering idiots can’t corrupt it for their own purposes. I’m not a wom **y** n, whatever the hell that is. I’m a wom **a** n, a (gasp!) fe **male** , and damned glad of it. Love men, appreciate and respect them as the other half of the goddamned species and aren’t about to dismiss a single damned one of 'em, much less en masse, on account of gender. Gotta be amused at the tortured, convoluted extremes people go to in the name of ‘principles’, though. [/QUOTE] (I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that you’re a woman!) I think we should call ourselves “weemen” (wee men). Wait…no I don’t. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/49 "2006-08-13T11:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=Carlyjay] …Aw shit, who am I kidding. I think anyone who uses that word must be a hippie sandals-with-socks wearing loser. [/QUOTE] (You knew someone was going to do this.) Wait a minute! I’m dating a guy who wears sandals with socks and has a hippie-ish streak. He wouldn’t use such a silly term or see the point of it, and neither would I, and I’m an unabashed feminist. Fortunately, being a feminist has not affected my common sense or love of the English language. I can see where people are coming from, but surely there are more important battles to fight. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/50 "2006-08-13T12:12:52Z")
Plus it was the title of so many small free sexest publications years ago, that I got feed up with the term. It’s sort of like Peta now. Nobody in the organization is credited as other than an extremist anoying crackpot, because of the extremists. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/51 "2006-08-13T12:22:06Z")
Entirely silly. How about doing something about something that actually matters? [sub]Moon-howling?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/52 "2006-08-13T13:06:18Z")
What’s the problem? If they can change ‘women’ to ‘womyn’ then we can change ‘men’ to ‘myn’ and everyone will be happy, right? Hehe. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/53 "2006-08-13T13:13:01Z")
[QUOTE=TVeblen] > [@Sevastopol](#): > > It’s a useful window into an endemic pathology of modern feminism. Passive, dictatorial and trivial. Or it’s just yet another example of silly extremists run amok. [/QUOTE] I’m not seeing the difference here. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/54 "2006-08-13T13:14:47Z")
This was covered back in 2001 in a 5 page rant in the pit…It was also covered [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=199363&highlight=womyn) a little later in 2003. Brief overview I was the one who started it because of a womyn’s group my mother was in… I just stayed faaaaar away in the end from going to her house on Wednesday nights… But the linked pit rant is pretty funny… I wish the original wasn’t lost in the mass SDMB outage of 01’… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/55 "2006-08-13T14:45:57Z")
[QUOTE=Uzi] What’s the problem? If they can change ‘women’ to ‘womyn’ then we can change ‘men’ to ‘myn’ and everyone will be happy, right? **Hehe**. [/QUOTE] (bolding mine) _ahem_ I think you mean “herher”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/56 "2006-08-13T14:53:31Z")
[QUOTE=Guinastasia] Absolutely fecking ridiculous. In fact, the first time I ever heard mention of it was on an episode of _Beavis and Butthead_, and I figured that Mike Judge himself made it up as satire. Imagine my surprise when I saw it used _seriously_. [/QUOTE] Best part was that the chicky had huge knockers with “womyn” scrawled across the chest. ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/57 "2006-08-13T15:00:10Z")
[QUOTE=Siege] (You knew someone was going to do this.) Wait a minute! I’m dating a guy who wears sandals with socks and has a hippie-ish streak. He wouldn’t use such a silly term or see the point of it, and neither would I, and I’m an unabashed feminist. Fortunately, being a feminist has not affected my common sense or love of the English language. I can see where people are coming from, but surely there are more important battles to fight. [/QUOTE] Oy! :smack: Do I bother? Do I bother? …Yes, I bother. I didn’t say “They wear birkenstocks with socks and are hippies? THEY MUST SAY WYMYN!” 'Twas the other way around. This isn’t a logic test, but just because Some A’s are B’s, not all B’s are necessarily A’s. And it WAS A JOKE! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/58 "2006-08-13T15:29:50Z")
[QUOTE=koeeoaddi] Womyn/wimmin, not so much [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=RickJay] “Womyn” and “wimmin” was briefly in vogue [/QUOTE] I was familiar with both “womyn” and “wimmin” before this thread, but had no idea they were connected! I always thought that “wimmin” was just a phonetic spelling used to evoke a down-home feel (as in “gather the wimminfolk”). I have only ever seen “wimmin” used by men, and it’s almost always tongue-in-cheek (at least, I think/hope it is). I had no idea that it was ever used by the feminist movement. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/59 "2006-08-13T15:47:16Z")
[QUOTE=F. U. Shakespeare] Amen – I get this same feeling when I encounter the White Trash Phonetics (WTP) of Ted Nugent, et al: spelling “Z” sounds (“bluez”, “newz”, etc.) phonetically is always a sign of high intelligence. [/QUOTE] It’s not just white trash. Behold [grillz](http://music.aol.com/photo_galleries/grillz-quiz). You may now weep for the future of our nation. I agree that “womyn” is pretty absurd, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510/60 "2006-08-13T16:42:43Z")
[QUOTE=Der Trihs] Silly; reminds of the complaints over the word “history”, and the attempts to call it “herstory” or “personstory”. Then there were the folks who wanted to remain “seminars” “ovulars”. [/QUOTE] Heh, these are the sort of people who inspire comments from my friends and I such as "Awww… she’s a feminist! How _cute!_ 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-opinion-of-the-word-womyn/368510.md?page=4)