November 16, 2014

"We just learned that TIME magazine apologized for including 'feminist' on their poll of words to ban. What a victory!"

"TIME backtracked so quickly because activists like you spoke up. When thousands of us sign petitions, share news with friends, and tweet, we can make a difference. TIME's closed their poll, and we're going to follow up with the editor to make sure nothing like this happens again. Thank you for helping us win such an important victory for gender equality today."

Email from Ilyse G. Hogue, President, NARAL Pro-Choice America, received just now. (I've never given them money, in case you're wondering why they send me email.)

Here's the TIME piece with the apology.

56 comments:

The Godfather said...

I thought Time Magazine died years ago. I suppose they did this to prove that they're still alive -- but it's like Marley's ghost's chains: Making a racket doesn't prove you're not dead.

Michael said...

What a triumph for NARAL.

rcocean said...

"we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice."

Huh? What the hell does this mean? Can somone please translate the Prog-Timespeak for me?

rcocean said...

People want "feminism" banned because its become a meaningless word. The original mainstream goals of feminism, live the civil rights movement, were achieved long ago. Yet, the hard core left keeps pretending this never happened and hi-jacks the word to use it to push stuff most people reject or don't care about.

tim maguire said...

Still won, can't get that toothpaste back in the tube.

Tank said...

Gamers have guts.

Time has ....

LOL. !!!

Ann Althouse said...

I don't believe anyone actually wanted the word banned. They just wanted to say they found it annoying as a stand in for more specific ideas.

Ann Althouse said...

But feminists brought attention to this idea of "banning" a word with "ban bossy."

It was stupid to get behind censorship like that. If you have the right ideas, you shouldn't think you need to suppress free speech. You should be afraid that those with bad ideas will want to stop you from communicating.

Michael K said...

Time magazine is nothing to worry about. They are reliably left wing.

MadisonMan said...

I'm wondering how you could use "your" like that :) THAT's what I'm wondering!

Anthony said...

But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. TIME had won the victory over itself. TIME loved Big Sister.

campy said...

"People want "feminism" banned because its become a meaningless word."

Feminists wish it were a meaningless word. People are coming to realize that it's really a synonym of "bigot."

Lori said...

You can't ban speech, but you can been shirts.

Because, fashion and presumed intent.

I also noted the typo "your".

Laslo Spatula said...

The 'Time' definition in their own words:

feminist: You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.

Maybe I am missing something.

Rob said...

Banning the word "bossy." Matt Taylor's shirt. Trigger warnings. They're all of a piece, apparently premised on the very hurtful notion that women are delicate flowers who are prone to attacks of the vapours when their exquisite sensibilities are offended. That's not true of the many strong women I know. That it should be promoted by those who claim to speak for women is nothing less than bizarre.

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm wondering how you could use "your" like that :) THAT's what I'm wondering!"

Homophone typos are incredibly easy to make. But thanks. Corrected.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Time's problem isn't that it included "feminist" on its list; it's that "feminist" was the runaway favorite in the voting. That's not how it was supposed to shake out, is it?

"We regret that its inclusion has become a distraction [...]" Indeed! You wanted another OMG or twerk or YOLO. Sorry, Time; for once you stumbled on something actually important.

Laslo Spatula said...

I really have nothing against 'Bossy' women.

"Harder harder HARDER' is good, as is

'Faster, faster, FASTER', also

'A little to the left That's it THAT'S it!'

and

'Make love to me you handsome charismatic stranger, you.'

n.n said...

I would vote for "pro-choice" as a term to ban, because it is inherently duplicitous. Feminism would be a distant second, as the various factions disagree whether men should be dehumanized; whether evolution of human life is a product of spontaneous conception; whether human life is a commodity with an arbitrary value inversely proportionate to its perception as a "burden" (i.e. an inconvenience that reduces money, sex, and ego gratification); and, generally, the strategy to pursue in the establishment of an ambitious and ruthless matriarchy.

Rocket man almost achieved escape velocity... Welcome back to Gaia, Rocket man. It's a feminist's prerogative to change...

AmPowerBlog said...

"I've never given them money, in case you're wondering why they send me email."

Yes, that obligatory disclaimer is totally necessary to maintain your creds! (Snark.)

Jupiter said...

Althouse said...
"If you have the right ideas, you shouldn't think you need to suppress free speech. You should be afraid that those with bad ideas will want to stop you from communicating."

You persist in assuming the good faith of Leftists. Leftism is about power, not ideas. And tolerance of other ideas is incompatible with the central idea of Leftism, which is best conveyed by a human head, impaled on a stick.

Birches said...

feminist: You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.

If this was their reasoning, then Science should be next on the banned list, right after feminist.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

I started into the "Time" article for a paragraph or so, but got lost. It did seem to be more about effective communication than political correctness - avoiding words whose meaning has become blurred through overuse, rather than suppression of free speech.

In that context, 'feminist' *should* be banned. It means too many different things to different people. It is no longer an effective word.

But there are plenty more abused words in the typical journalist's small vocabulary - and the truly stunted vocabulary of the average TV news writer.

..spiralling
..skyrocketing
..fair (probably the most subjective word in English)
..fail (as in 'The rock failed to crumble.')
..force (as in 'There was no cream; I was forced to use milk.)
..one-off (short for 'one-of-a-kind')
..real (as an adverb)
..Now (as the first word in every sentence of some news readers)
..gonna (as in 'will')
..eyemana (as in 'Eyemana take a break.')
..and (in the formation of infinitives; 'try and do this')
..that (as an expression of time; 'That is when he ...')

MadisonMan said...

It drives me batty when I do it. It's even worse when I commit it to print. Even did it with proceed/precede this past week (sigh).

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

n.n: I would vote for "pro-choice" as a term to ban ...

Agree. Birth control drugs/devices presented as a "health" issue also rankles.

A "health" argument could be made for providing condoms, as they do prevent the spread of disease.

A "health" argument for providing birth control pills, not so much. Pregnancy is not a disease.

chickelit said...

But now people in dentists' offices will be misinformed because of TIME's backtracking omission.

chickelit said...

And, if any of the rankled females care, this little tizzy will make people like them and their opinions even less.

tim in vermont said...

Now that somebody has done the dirty work for me and gone to Time magazine and actually read the piece. I have to say that the whole idea was pretty anodyne, and the that the Twitter Nazis were responding to what they assumed those voting to "ban" feminism were thinking, rather than any actual facts of the matter.

How many times are these Twitter browshirts gonna win?

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Birches: ...then Science should be next on the banned list, right after feminist.

Yes, that too. Science is the continual proposing and testing of hypotheses. The 'science' is *never* settled; always open for revision.

Nor should the 'testing' part be diminished. Science goes beyond the mere proposing of a hypothesis by a 'scientist.'

kcom said...

"They're all of a piece, apparently premised on the very hurtful notion that women are delicate flowers who are prone to attacks of the vapours when their exquisite sensibilities are offended."

Women:
I want to be in your club.
I want to be in your club.
I want to be in your club.

Men:
Welcome to the club.

Women:
I don't want to be in this club. Here's what you need to change.

Birches said...

But there are plenty more abused words in the typical journalist's small vocabulary - and the truly stunted vocabulary of the average TV news writer.

literally is the next word to go.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Nobody gives a shit about a dying magazine like Time or some perpetually outraged cunts whining.

James Pawlak said...

Feminist: A female of the race who denies biological reality AND usually hates giving pleasure to others by any acts.

tim maguire said...

Feminist was banned from the ban list.

A metaban!

n.n said...

The spirit of the counter-proposal is to ban banning euphemisms, double entendres, and semantic games generally. Essentially, the counter-ban is a ban of unlicensed shirts.

Mary Beth said...

I've never given them money, in case you're wondering why they send me email.

I wasn't, but if I were, this wouldn't have explained why.

Ann Althouse said...

@ mary beth

I'm just eliminating one theory. I don't know why I'm on their list.

richard mcenroe said...

What shirts were they wearing when they made the apology? What message were they trying to send?

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to Time for realizing that journalism is only journalism if it doesn't offend anybody. The powerful are resting more comfortably tonight.

Anonymous said...

I'm reminded of my favorite Brecht quotation: If the government doesn't trust the people, why can't it dissolve them and elect a new people?

chickelit said...

If the government doesn't trust the people, why can't it dissolve them and elect a new people?

Isn't that the thinking behind the non-enforcement of current immigration law? I don't think it's sustainable or workable, but there it is.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Silly NARAL. It's not a victory until the idea of banning the word (or really just opposing the use of the term as a substitute for though/argument) is itself not possible. Obviously opposing the word (much less the concept!) is thoughtcrime. Victory won't be won until that thoughtcrime is impossible. Newspeak will make thoughtcrime impossible. Give it time, sisters.

Unknown said...

"When thousands of us sign petitions"

Isn't that like a ... poll? Where lots of people tell you how they feel about something? Like the thing Time was doing that had to be stopped?

Achilles said...

We shouldn't ban the word feminist. But there should be a penalty for using a word wrong. Like the above mentioned literally which is figuratively misused 99% of the time. Every time someone uses literally instead of figuratively they should have to rewrite the sentence a few thousand times with figuratively in the right place instead.

Every time the word feminist is used to explain someone acting like a soul sucking harpy they should have to put on a bat wing hat and eat rat tail soup with their hands. Unless we have a chance to officially redefine the word.

Renee said...

Poorly worded poll.

Should have used the term "outdated", as in the term being outdated and lacking usefulness in meaning.

Laslo Spatula said...

I like the attractive feminists that wear yoga pants.

Laslo Spatula said...

I believe a feminist with a nice butt in yoga pants can still be a feminist: I'll stand behind her in the clothing decisions she makes.

Laslo Spatula said...

I also like feminists that play beach volleyball in bikinis. Empowering.

Laslo Spatula said...

I guess what I am saying is that a feminist can be attractive and sexy, and hopefully not talk too much about feminism.

Laslo Spatula said...

Feminists don't exercise their right to be sexy nearly enough.

Laslo Spatula said...

If I have to listen to a lecture on feminism given by a woman in a business suit or a woman in a wet t-shirt I will gladly listen to the woman in the wet t-shirt. It is all in the presentation.

DieseGedanken said...

Ann Althouse said...
"Homophone typos are incredibly easy to make."

That's homophobic.

Todd said...

But there are plenty more abused words in the typical journalist's small vocabulary - and the truly stunted vocabulary of the average TV news writer.

Agreed! I would very much support banning the word(s) "assault weapon" from use by any journalist, government official, and lawyer.

It was a made up word that has just become a term used to obfuscate.

Bryan C said...

"Huh? What the hell does this mean? Can somone please translate the Prog-Timespeak for me?"

It means "We accidentally allowed an opposing argument to interrupt your carefully scripted debate. We'll do whatever you want if you'll please stop screaming at us."

Rick Caird said...

Welcome to the Streisand effect. It is pretty strange to apologize for the results of a poll. It is almost as if the organization consists of a bunch of pansies.

Kirk Parker said...

"Homophone typos are incredibly easy to make."

Althouse outs herself as a homophonophobe.