PeonForHer
Posts: 19612
Joined: 9/27/2008 Status: offline
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ORIGINAL: blnymph why not asking trump's barber for some hair-splitting lessons? Yep, I tend to agree. Here's the long argument, with my reasons for agreeing emboldened: "Misogyny: Does It Mean Hate or Bias? By Ben Zimmer May 30, 2014 6:49 p.m. ET 3 COMMENTS Soon after the murderous rampage in Isla Vista, Calif., that police say was perpetrated by Elliot Rodger, lexicographers at Merriam-Webster tracking look-ups in their online dictionary noticed that one word was skyrocketing: "misogyny." In an email, Mr. Rodger had written, "My hatred and rage towards all women festered inside me like a plague. Their very existence is the cause of all of my torture, pain and suffering throughout my life." By Monday, "misogyny" had climbed to the top of the look-up chart. It remained there over the next few days, as opinion pieces and Twitter posts, spurred on by the #YesAllWomen hashtag, dissected the nature of misogyny. Related Reading Social Media Campaign Sparks Debate on Targeting of Women Merriam-Webster associate editor Kory Stamper says this is hardly the first time the news has inspired people to look up the entry for "misogyny." It happened twice in 2012: when Rush Limbaugh made disparaging comments about Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke after she testified on Capitol Hill about contraception, and again when Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard accused opposition leader Tony Abbott of "misogyny and sexism." Those who looked up "misogyny" in Merriam-Webster's online dictionary would find a terse definition: "a hatred of women." Etymologically speaking, that is right on the money, as the word combines the Greek root for "woman" with the prefix "miso-" meaning "hatred" (also found in "misandry," a hatred of men, and "misanthropy," a hatred of humankind). But given the modern usage of the word, is that definition in need of a rewrite? From the evidence that Mr. Rodger left behind, it is easy to diagnose him as having an abiding hatred for women, but few of the critics of Messrs. Limbaugh and Abbott would go so far in describing their attitudes. The "misogyny" at issue in those two incidents, as well as the kind typically discussed this past week under the banner of #YesAllWomen, has more to do with ingrained prejudices against women than a pathological hatred of them. The Oxford English Dictionary revised its definition of "misogyny" back in 2002, changing it from "hatred of women" to "hatred or dislike of, or prejudice against women." And after Ms. Gillard gave her "misogyny" speech in 2012, the editor of Australia's Macquarie Dictionary acknowledged that their definition was in need of a similar expansion. Ms. Stamper says that while Merriam-Webster continues to re-evaluate its definitions, the editors currently believe that "hatred" is "broad enough to encompass everything from feelings of dislike to entrenched prejudice and hostility." Steve Kleinedler, executive editor of the American Heritage Dictionary, says that its definition of "misogyny" ("hatred or mistrust of women") is also under review, indicating just how lexicographers are grappling with the word's shifting usage." http://www.wsj.com/articles/misogyny-has-its-meaning-shifted-1401490009
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