Insipred by @SorayaMcDonald tweets on the use of sexist language to diminish and discredit women, especially women of color, let's, once again, put together a list of problem words to describe women leaders and their political work/THREAD
https://twitter.com/SorayaMcDonald/status/1079735222554513409
There's fair amount of cultural difference (some words are more common in British Commonwealth while others seem peculiarly American). & this has long and shabby history. Now that some kick-ass, powerful, smart & thoughtful women like @AOC @IlhanMN & @NancyPelosi are /2
..taking control across the country & in Washington, let's retire these words in reference to women, shall we? After "tirade" to describe normal, measured, intentional political pushback, let's rethink feisty, irritable, emotional, bitchy, hysterical, bubbly, flirty, abrasive /3
.. pushy, airhead, bossy, cat fight, claws out, ditsy, frumpy, high maintenance, dowdy, illogical/irrational, flighty, sassy and shrill (thanks UK-based Telegraph) /4 telegraph.co.uk/women/life/amb…
.. sly, clingy, cold, crazy, exotic, peppy, sassy (with its racial history, as Soraya points out) - thanks @HuffPost & @AmandaDuberman /5 huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/16/wor…
.. and this great list from @sacraparental (a selection): dramatic, nag, ice queen, shrew, ball-buster, intense, mannish, humorless, lippy, slut, clotheshorse, lady-like, demure, chatty /6 sacraparental.com/2016/05/14/eve…
Culture change comes with actions small, medium, and large. @pkcapitol how about taking the lead on this with @PostBaron ? Confab with other political reporters? Revisit and update @AP guidelines? /7 apaonline.org/page/nonsexist
Once something becomes visible, it's impossible to make it invisible. As we start #2019, let's do better, shall we? For all of our daughters -- and every one of our sons. END
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