Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains cursing in quotes.

Amanda Montell is an American linguist, podcast host, and writer. She is the author of three books on language: Wordslut, The Age of Magical Overthinking, and Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. Her writing has also been published in The Guardian, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, and more. 

Montell studied linguistics at New York University and draws on academic studies as well as anecdotes and personal experiences in her work. Montell’s podcasts further explore the subjects of her books. Her podcast Sounds Like a Cult follows in the same vein as her book, Cultish, and won the iHeart Radio 2023 award for “Best Emerging Podcast.” Similarly, her podcast Magical Overthinkers further explores themes from her book The Age of Magical Overthinking.

Montell has made numerous TV and radio appearances, including in the documentary series How to Become a Cult Leader on Netflix and Breath of Fire on HBO.

Jane Caputi is currently the Professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Florida Atlantic University. Caputi’s work focuses on contemporary American culture, gender, violence, and the environment. 

In collaboration with Mary Daly, Caputi wrote Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language in 1987, one of several feminist dictionaries published in that decade.