The term Womxn, used by some feminists, especially in the intersectional feminist movement, is one of several alternative spellings of the English word woman. It is used to avoid the spelling woman, and to foreground transgender, nonbinary, and women of color. It is a difficult term to pronounce, but its users felt that it provoked thought and represented the complexity of gender. Advocacy groups and organizations, including university organizations in the U.S. and U.K., have adopted the term to reflect their values of inclusivity and diverse perspectives.
Definition
, which added womxn and 300 other words to its dictionary in 2019, defines womxn as "a woman ". The Boston Globe calls the term "a powerful, increasingly popular label, encompassing a broader range of gender identities than 'woman'—or even older feminist terms such as 'womyn'... a nontraditional spelling for people whose gender identity doesn’t fit in the traditional boxes". Harvardsociologist Keridwen Luis says that feminists have experimented for decades to devise a suitable alternative for the term identifying the female gender. Such terms have included "wimmin", based upon the original Old English term, and "womyn". The New York Times stated that while womxn was difficult to pronounce, it was "perhaps the most inclusive word yet", using a similar approach to the term "Latinx". The term, which is an attempt to avoid patriarchal language, includes not only cisgender women, but also trans women, people who identify as non-binary, and "femme/feminine-identifying genderqueer". Sociologist Nita Harper praised the ambiguity regarding the pronunciation of "womxn", saying that it forces users to "stop and think" and represents the complexity of gender.
Current uses
In 2017, the Womxn's March on Seattle chose to use the term "womxn" to promote the march. Elizabeth Hunter-Keller, the event's communications chair, told The New York Times that they chose it based upon the recommendation of a core organizer, who was a nonbinary person, and to reflect the organizing group's diversity. Hunter-Keller reported that although there were some questions, most supporters encouraged the choice. In January 2018, Portland held the Indigenous Womxn’s March, dedicated to missing and murdered indigenous girls, women, and transgender people. In October 2019, the Wellcome Collection, a museum and library in London, made an announcement through Twitter using the term in order to demonstrate their goals to include diverse perspectives; hundreds of followers complained and the museum later apologized and removed the term from its website. Labour Party politician Jess Phillips responded to the incident by saying, "I've never met a trans woman who was offended by the word woman being used, so I'm not sure why this keeps happening". Clara Bradbury-Rance from King's College London conjectured that the push-back was because the use of the term was seen as too simplistic and a "fix-all". In 2019, the following campus groups in the U.S. had adopted use of the term "womxn":
