Oxford Dictionaries amends 'sexist' definitions of the word 'woman'

 Publisher labels ‘bitch’ as offensive but fails to satisfy some equality campaigners

 The updates acknowledge that a woman can be ‘a person’s wife or lover’ rather than simply a man’s. Photograph: Alamy

Aaron Walawalkar

Sat 7 Nov 2020 18.43 GMT

211

Oxford University Press has updated its dictionaries’ definitions of the word “woman” following an extensive review triggered by equality campaigners.

Among the updates to Oxford Dictionaries’ definitions is the acknowledgement that a woman can be “a person’s wife, girlfriend, or female lover”, rather than only a man’s.

The entry for “man” has also been amended to include the same gender-neutral terminology, while many other terms relating to sexual attractiveness and activity have been revised.

Labels have been applied to terms identified as “derogatory”, “offensive” or “dated”, such as the word “bitch” and “bint”, which are listed as synonyms for the word woman.

Advertisement

An OUP spokeswoman said the changes were made after its dictionary compilers undertook an “extensive review” of entries “for ‘woman’ and many other related terms”.

The review was triggered following a petition last year criticising the dictionaries’ inclusion of bitch, bint, wench and other offensive remarks, among its list of synonyms for women.

Campaigners argued that the examples the dictionaries offered for “man” were also much more exhaustive than those for “woman” and presented women as “subordinate or “an irritation”.

“Ms September will embody the professional yet sexy career woman,” read one example. Another spoke of “male fisherfolk who take their catch home for the little woman to gut”.

The petition called for all phrases and definitions that “discriminate and patronise” or “connote men’s ownership” of women to be eliminated. It also demanded that the entry of “woman” be enlarged and include examples representative of minorities such as transgender women and lesbian women.

The leaders of Women’s Aid and the Women’s Equality party threw their weight behind the campaign this year on International Women’s Day, by signing an open letter calling on OUP to change the “sexist” definitions.

“Bitch is not a synonym for woman. It is dehumanising to call a woman a bitch. It is but one sad, albeit extremely damaging, example of everyday sexism. And that should be explained clearly in the dictionary entry used to describe us,” it read.

Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, who started the petition, which has reached 30,000 signatures, was “very happy” with the changes and felt the campaign had achieved 90% of its aims.

She said the inclusion of gender-neutral terminology in the dictionaries’ relationship examples marked “a huge step forward for the LGBTQI people”. “It is respecting their love and unions,” she added.

But she remained “disappointed” that the word bitch – defined as a “spiteful, unpleasant, or disliked woman” – continued to be listed as a synonym, albeit now labelled as “offensive”.

She contrasted this to the classification of the word dickhead – defined “as a stupid, irritating, or ridiculous man” – which is considered “vulgar slang” and not included in the list of synonyms for men.

An OUP spokeswoman said their dictionaries “reflect, rather than dictate, how language is used. This is driven solely by evidence of how real people use English in their daily lives.

“This independent editorial approach means that our dictionaries provide an accurate representation of language, even where it means recording senses and example uses of words that are offensive or derogatory, and which we wouldn’t necessarily employ ourselves.”

The OUP said its review has developed into an ongoing project to re-examine our treatment of language, with recent work undertaken around race and racial diversity and on the use of “they” as a pronoun for people whose gender identity is neither exclusively male nor female.

Since you’re here ...

… joining us from India, we have a small favour to ask. You've read 

 in the last year. And you’re not alone; millions are flocking to the Guardian for open, independent, quality news every day, and readers in 180 countries around the world now support us financially.

We believe everyone deserves access to information that’s grounded in science and truth, and analysis rooted in authority and integrity. That’s why we made a different choice: to keep our reporting open for all readers, regardless of where they live or what they can afford to pay. This means more people can be better informed, united, and inspired to take meaningful action.

In these perilous times, an independent, truth-seeking global news organisation like the Guardian is essential. We have no shareholders or billionaire owner, meaning our journalism is free from commercial and political influence – this makes us different. When it’s never been more pertinent, our independence allows us to fearlessly investigate, challenge and expose those in power.

Amid the various intersecting crises of 2020 – from Covid-19 to police brutality – the Guardian has not, and will never, sideline the climate emergency. We are determined to uphold our reputation for producing urgent, powerful, high-impact reporting on the environment that’s read by around the world.

We’ve made institutional progress too, working hard to live up to the climate promises we made in 2019. We no longer take advertising from fossil fuel companies, and we’re on course to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.

If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Your funding powers our journalism, it protects our independence, and ensures we can remain open for all. You can support us through these challenging economic times and enable real-world impact.

Every contribution, however big or small, makes a real difference for our future.