Every year, TIME magazine posts a poll facetiously asking which word should be “banned” the following year. The words are typically annoying phrases like “OMG,” “YOLO,” and “twerk,” but feminists went ballistic when one of the suggestions this year was the term “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?” TIME’s citation reads, “Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade.” (RELATED: Palin: ‘Fake Feminists’ Keeping Women Dependent On Government)
“Feminist” quickly emerged as the clear favorite, winning over 50 percent of the vote and beating out such irritating millennial phrases like “I can’t even,” “obvi,” “bae,” and “turnt.” But despite the public’s seeming approval, feminists quickly began blasting the word’s inclusion in the poll.
Among the more prominent hyperventilators:
- The Washington Post‘s Roxane Gay admitted that “the list is supposed to be funny,” but said it was still “largely a policing of the vernacular of anyone who isn’t a white, heterosexual man.”
- Planned Parenthood, which tweeted: “TIME thinks the word “feminist” should be banned? We think reductive attacks on feminism should be banned. #justsayin“
- Salon writer Jenny Kutner blasted the poll, which is sightly ironic considering she was last seen blaming Wendy Davis’ loss on white women.
Naturally, TIME buckled to the pressure, and the poll has been updated with an editor’s note: “TIME apologizes for the execution of this poll; the word ‘feminist’ should not have been included in a list of words to ban. While we meant to invite debate about some ways the word was used this year, that nuance was lost, and we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.”