Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

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. Her other books include Gossips, Gorgons, and Crones: The Fates of the Earth and Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power and Popular Culture. Caputi has won numerous awards for her work, including the Saga Award from the Association for the Study of Women in Mythology and Eminent Scholar of the Year from the American Culture/Popular Culture Association.

In Wordslut, Montell cites Caputi’s 1987 women’s dictionary as an example of feminists reclaiming or inventing words in English to further the feminist cause and draw attention to the sexism in modern English. Montell presents Caputi’s “Wickedary” as an inventive and interesting addition to feminist linguistics, but ultimately one that did not produce any popular new words among English speakers in real life. She takes issue with Caputi’s belief that by changing the language, they could change speakers’ ideology, as Montell argues that the opposite is true.

Mary Daly (1928-2010) was an American theologian and philosopher famous for her radical feminist philosophy. Daly earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from the College of Saint Rose, her Master’s in English from The Catholic University of America, and her doctorate in religion from St. Mary’s College. She then completed doctorates in theology and philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Daly worked as a professor at Boston College for several decades, teaching feminist ethics, theology, and patriarchy. She was fired when a male student sued the school over her exclusion of male students from some of her courses. 

Daly is the author of numerous books including Church and Second Sex, Beyond God the Father, Gyn/Ecology, Outercourse, and Pure Lust. In collaboration with Jane Caputi, Daly wrote Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language in 1987.

Suzette Haden Elgin (1936-2015) was an American researcher, professor, and prolific writer who studied experimental linguistics. Elgin was a professor at San Diego State University. Her non-fiction words explored the role of communication in daily life, including The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense, Language in Emergency Medicine, GenderSpeak, and How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable. Elgin also wrote numerous songs, poems, and works of fiction such as the Ozark trilogy and the Coyote Jones series. Her best-known work of fiction is Native Tongue, a science fiction series in which women communicate through their own language, Láadan.

Montell uses Láadan as an example of feminists’ attempts to engineer language to reflect their values and women’s experiences in the world. Montell showcases the inventiveness of Láadan and its specific words which reflect gendered experiences. Montell explains, “For example, in Láadan, there are distinct words meaning ‘to menstruate early,’ ‘to menstruate painfully,’ and ‘to menstruate joyfully’” (278). 

However, Montell also acknowledges that women in real life did not embrace the language or incorporate any of its words into modern English. Montell argues that this is because women English speakers are able to invent their own words when necessary and do not need to draw on invented languages or dictionaries to express themselves. Moreover, she believes that linguistic change is prompted by cultural change, rather than the other way around.

Deborah Cameron is a British linguist and professor at Oxford University. She currently holds the title of Rupert Murdoch Professorship in Language and Communication at the university’s Worcester College. 

In her research Cameron has focused on language and gender, and questioned the stereotype that men and women’s communication differs greatly. She is the author of numerous books on language, including Researching Language: Issues of Power and Method, The Myth of Mars and Venus: Do Men and Women Really Speak Different Languages?, Language and Sexuality, and more. Cameron has also contributed to the feminist magazine Trouble and Strife as well as BBC radio shows like Woman’s Hour and Thinking Allowed.

Montell shares her admiration for Cameron, calling her a “personal hero” (9). She agrees with Cameron that English “is not innately biased against women” (9), but is often used in a way that perpetuates sexism. Montell also endorses Cameron’s position that linguists and laypeople should not critique young women’s linguistic features, since she believes that supposedly “feminine” speech is not the real problem, but sexist bias is. 

Montell also uses Cameron’s expertise to support her point that invented terms and languages do not necessarily further women’s goals of equality. She reports that Cameron told her, “‘I was always skeptical about the idea of a language ‘expressing women’s perceptions.’ Which perceptions would those be, and which women would they belong to? There is no set of perceptions which all women share’” (279).

Lal Zimman received his PhD in Linguistics at the University of Colorado and has worked at Reed College and Stanford University. He is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of California Santa Barbara. He is also the editor of Oxford University Press’s Studies in Language, Sexuality, and Gender series. Zimman’s research focuses on gender, sexuality, and language, particularly among transgender people in the contemporary US.

Montell refers to Zimman’s position that language is a meaningful part of society that reflects and informs power dynamics between people. Montell quotes Zimman as saying, “‘‘Getting people to understand that language itself is a means through which people can be harmed, elevated, or valued is really important’” (3). She also refers to his expertise on the relationship between sexuality, gender, and language, agreeing with him that people should be flexible with their language and learn how to use new and unfamiliar terms, such as non-binary pronouns, in order to extend respect to others. Montell incorporates Zimman’s research on how people refer to their own bodies, in particular their genitalia, to show that using one’s own terms can be an empowering experience, particularly for trans people.

Laurel A. Sutton is the co-founder of Catchword, a branding agency, and currently serves as a linguist and strategist with the company. Sutton completed her bachelor’s degree in Linguistics at Rutgers University before continuing on to graduate school at The University of California Berkeley. Sutton also serves as the Committee Chair of the Linguistic Society of America and is the President of the American Name Society.

Curious to understand more about gendered language, as a graduate student Sutton compiled contemporary slang from fellow students on the UC Berkeley campus and found that there were many more derogatory terms for women than for men. Montell uses Sutton’s 1992 paper to support her point that sexist bias motivates speakers to generate more insulting language to refer to women than to men. Montell also uses Sutton’s work on slang to show how sometimes women “reclaim” certain insulting terms, like “ho” or “bitch,” by using them as terms of empowerment or endearment.