Time magazine editor Nancy Gibbs has apologised for the inclusion of the word ‘feminist’ in its list of words to ban in 2015.
Feminist was included alongside “bae”, “turnt” and “sorry not sorry” as words that should be “launched into the deepest, darkest, most hopeless eternity from whence there is no salvation”.
Gibbs amended the article today to include an apology:
“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.”
The author of the piece, Katy Steinmetz, has defended her actions on Twitter by telling angry readers “please see blurb for context. The inclusion is responding to trends in the media, not feminism itself.”
However, neither the “nuance” nor the “context” had any impact on the way the poll was received – by those who opposed it or, unfortunately, those who voted in favour of banning the word.
Those opposed to the word feminist being included in the poll were outraged because the inclusion of the word belittles feminists and the movement we represent. To us, the inclusion of the word was not intended to spark debate about the ways the word is used, but to suggest the fight for equality is trivial and meaningless.
Sadly, many of the readers who voted for the word to be banned did so for exactly the same reason.
Internet sites 4Chan and 9Gag both posted threads to rally support behind the banishment of the word feminist. The 4Chan user who was imploring others to vote in the poll told them to “trigger some bitches”.
Website Twitchy also asked readers to vote to ban feminist: “Sorry, ladies. TIME’s readers are speaking. If these poll results hold up, “feminist” will exit the political lexicon (at least for TIME) by Thanksgiving. And Twitchy readers: Don’t forget to vote, too.”
So even though Gibbs says Time had no intention of insulting feminists, her poll tapped into a huge group of people jumping at the chance to do just that.
Despite Gibbs’ apology, the word feminist still appears in the poll. And at last count it was still winning, with 46% of the vote so far.
It is heartening that Time apologised for the disaster, but the response to the poll is both distressing and telling. We are much further from embracing the word feminist than we should be in 2014.
