Small wins for the LGBTI+ Community
OXFORD dictionary enhances its vocab
More inclusive words added to accommodate LGBTI+ community – thanks to OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
For many years discrimination of the LGBTI+ community has not been only experienced and intensely felt within churches and in society but even academically. Homophobes find pleasure in humiliating homosexuals by using derogative words for lack of proper terms and definitions. For some LGBTI+ community, language is key to their self-identification and inclusion in society.
The recent move by Oxford English Dictionary to add 18 LGBT+ defining terms in its dictionary is celebrated as a victory. These newly added terms are an addition to revised definitions of man and woman by the largest dictionary in the world in 2020. These adjustments in the academic world are a result of a successful online petition signed by nearly 35 000 people. A backlash from critics and activists described previous definitions and its accompanying derogatory synonyms as “sexist”.
The changes will apply to the Oxford English Dictionary and the publisher’s other dictionaries.
The dictionary added several new LGBTQ+ defining terms, and the comprehensive list of terms include “gender-affirming”, “demisexual”, and “enby”. Newly coined terms like “gender expression” and “gender presentation” are also defined in the dictionary.
Moreover, the dictionary added more cultural slang terms, like the LGBTQ+ definitions of “top” and “bottom”. The “LGBTQ” acronym is also among a new group of defined words introduced in September 2022 by the dictionary.
Additionally, Oxford also introduced specific English terms relevant to the indigenous perception of gender identity and sexuality. “Brotherboy” and “Sistergirl” are two new entries referring to gender presentation and identity in Australian Aboriginal communities, while “Muxe” (pronounced ‘moo-shay’) refers to a gender identity phrase used in southern Mexico by Zapotec communities. The dictionary now includes additional definitions: “gender-critical” and “TERF”, as well as “anti-gay” and “anti-homosexual.”
Here are 11 definitions we chose to share out of 18
Bakla – “a person registered as male at birth who identifies with or presents a feminine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with femininity.” The dictionary further notes that “bakla encompasses a wide range of gendered characteristics and practices that do not correspond to heteronormative ideas of masculinity. It can often, but not always, denote homosexuality, although the term is increasingly being used as a synonym for Western terms relating to sexual orientation, such as gay and homosexual.”
Brotherboy– A person registered as female at birth who identifies with or presents a masculine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with masculinity”.
Enby – A colloquial term used for a non-binary individual.
Gender-critical – “Critical of the concept of gender identity, or the belief that gender identity outweighs or is more significant than biological sex. In sense (b), typically distinguishing between gender (as something culturally or biologically defined) and gender identity (considered an innate individual sense).”
LGBTQ – Acronym (for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer).
Multisexual – “Characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to, or sexual activity with, people of different sexes or gender identities; (now) spec. having any of various sexual orientations of this type, such as bisexual, pansexual, or polysexual.”
Muxe (pronounced as ‘moo-shay’) – “a person registered as male at birth who identifies with or presents a feminine gender expression, typically through behaviors, occupations, modes of dress, etc., that are culturally associated with femininity.”
Pangender – “Designating a non-binary person whose gender identity encompasses multiple genders, which may be experienced simultaneously or in a fluid, fluctuating manner; of or relating to a gender identity of this type.”
Sistergirl – Assigned male at birth but presents in ways seen as feminine.
Tea house – “A public toilet used by men to engage in or solicit sexual activity with other men.”
TERF – “Originally used within the radical feminist movement”, to refer to trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
What's Your Reaction?
