Anti-feminists behind word of the year
An editorial from the Toronto Star:
In 2016 Merriam-Webster’s word of the year was “surreal,” meaning “marked by the intense irrational reality of a dream.” Handily, that word would best describe the fact that in a year marked by misogyny the most-searched word on the dictionary’s website was, ironically, “feminism.”
More surreal is the fact that the number of people looking up the definition of feminism increased 70 per cent over last year mostly because of the fortunes of two very high-profile anti-feminists: Donald Trump and Harvey Weinstein.
That’s right. Lookups of “feminism” first began rising on Jan. 21, one day after Trump, a man who openly admitted to sexually assaulting women, became president of the United States. On that day millions of people on all seven continents (even Antarctica) marched in a sea of pink pussy hats to “send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office, and to the world that women’s rights are human rights.”
Trump’s hand was once again at play in the second spike in lookups in February when his adviser, Kellyanne Conway, distanced herself from the word, saying “it seems to be very anti-male.” Too bad Conway hadn’t looked the word up before misusing it, since there’s nothing about feminism that is anti-male. Trump’s influence was again at play when lookups spiked with the release of the TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel about a society where women are stripped of their rights. Critics said it struck too close to home in Trump’s America.
Still, Trump and his acolytes can’t take all the credit for the rise in popularity of “feminism.” Lookups increased again with the fall of Harvey Weinstein in October, based on the sexual assault and harassment allegations made against him.
And of course lookups continued as other male icons fell like dominoes in the Weinstein fallout and with the rise of the #MeToo movement inspired by the women who spoke out against him.
In other words, so to speak, two misogynists led the way to a rise of feminism in America and around the world. Surreal.