In defence of
oneself for who one really is and creating a sense of belonging. Self love only.”
Girl dinner, a recently viral usage, is indeed about self love. Coined by Olivia Maher, an American food and lifestyle content creator, girl dinner is a loweffort, hasslefree, comfort meal that a woman rustles up for herself, without having to worry about its nutritional content or having to feed others in the family.
An evolving wordscape
Aparna Mulberry, an English language educator and a social media influencer (@invertedcoconut on Instagram) sees these womenrelated terms as empowering. “As an English teacher, I see these new terms as reflective of the unique experiences and contributions of women and provide language that reflects and validates the diverse roles and identities of women in society.”
Language, says Kalyani Vallath, an educational entrepreneur, author and editor, has always been deeply gendered. “It has not only been used to perpetrate patriarchy, but also as social critique. In the history of feminism and women’s liberation movement, we have seen that a lot of words that men and society used to tarnish women have been used back at them.
Especially in the second wave of feminism, the taboo words of the female body… were used freely. So language has been used back at the patriarchal society to great effect for cultural critique and women’s liberation,” adds Kalyani.
There is an air of ambiguity around these neologisms, says journalist, poet and author Saritha Varma.
“We cannot say with certainty that they are empowering. I see them as expressions of a pop culture renaissance. And pop culture is always ambiguous. It stumbles, runs around but creates a stir and a shake. Every generation has had its share of these. Take girl math for instance, one could think of this as a gender slur. But it depends on the context. If it is a joke on ourselves, it is fun. But if it is coming from a male relative/friend, it becomes a slur.”
Post feminism
In 21st century postfeminist India, feminism is no longer seen in the positive sense.
“The younger generations don’t want to talk about patriarchy and don’t want to fight men. They would rather call themselves human, not girls or women,” says Kalyani. “In that sense, a lot of words that are actually derogatory are used in a neutral sense. They think feminism has failed or that it has won. So, they use these terms without the power edge. I see it as a good trend, too, in the sense that both men and women are already occupying a neutral gender space.”
Kalyani adds, “There is a return to humanism and we are breaking free from the shackles of age old conventions. We are looking at a freer, more democratic world.”