India, 9th November: The Oxford Dictionary has updated its definitions of the word, woman.
Several petitions were filed last year regarding this which influenced the change in the definition of the word. There has been updates made by The Oxford University Press to alter the sexist and offensive synonyms used for women in its dictionary like ‘bitch, bint, wench’ etc.
The updated definition of the dictionary now acknowledges a woman to be a person’s wife, girlfriend or lover.
A media report says that some changes have also been made by Oxford University Press for the definition of man which now includes a similar gender-neutral terminology.
It has also brought changes in other words related to sexual attractiveness and activity.
According to a report that quoted an Oxford University Press spokeswoman as saying that the changes were implemented after an “extensive review of entries related to woman and many other related terms”.
According to The Guardian, the petitions, who launched a campaign in support of their demand to bring in changes in the definition of several words in Oxford Dictionary, argued that the examples the dictionary offered for man were much more exhaustive than those for a woman.
They had a view that the dictionary presented women as subordinate or an irritation.
The campaign was supported by the Women’s Aid and the Women’s Equality Party on the International Women’s Day. The campaigners signed an open letter and demanded OUP to change the sexist definitions. This campaign that was started by Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, reached 30,000 signatures.
The letter said: “Bitch is not a synonym for woman. It is dehumanising to call a woman a bitch. It is but one sad, albeit extremely damaging, an example of everyday sexism. And that should be explained clearly in the dictionary entry used to describe us.”
