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02/03/2012
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What is woman-centered?  Is it even a word?  Can it be found in a dictionary?  What does it mean?  Who created the term?  Where did it come from?

I first heard the word woman-centered in a classroom.  The year was 1989; the class was "Intro to Women's Studies - 101."  For some reason or other, I caught myself thinking of that term a few months ago and went immediately to my beloved and treasured computer to goggle.  That word is in the Oxford online dictionary:

google   Pronunciation: /ˈɡuːɡl/ verb [with object] informal search for information about (someone or something) on the Internet, typically using the search engine Google.

Origin: 1990s: from Google, the proprietary name of a popular Internet search engine

But "woman-centered" cannot be found in a dictionary.  At least not in any of the online dictionaries I searched through two months ago.  And I found this fact very strange because I had heard the word way back in 1986.  I can tell you exactly who said it; it was Professor Bettina Aptheker in the lecture she gave on the first day of my "Intro" class.  I was 36, a re-entry student at the University of California, Santa Cruz,  - a single mother; a lesbian; a disabled student; a pot smoker and poet; a misogynist pig.  My actual major was Literature/Creative Writing; I only took the Woman Studies class to get a friend off my back.  Really! 

I walked out of that first "Introduction to Women's Studies - 101" a very, very different woman from the one who walked in. And now here I am, some 26 years later at age 67, beginning a blog with the very first topic being about the word (or should I say non-word) "woman-centered." 

I decided to make my search simpler and used the same online Oxford Dictionary.  I discovered some very interesting definitions:

mankind   noun [mass noun]

• 1 /manˈkʌɪnd/ human beings considered collectively; the human race: research for the benefit of all mankind

2 /ˈmankʌɪnd/ archaic men, as distinct from women.

womankind   Pronunciation: /ˈwʊmənkʌɪnd/ (also womenkind) noun [mass noun]women considered collectively: she said she acted for womankind in bringing a sexual harassment claim against him

Interesting.  Mankind seems to define all of humankind, while womankind stands only for women collectively.  Does that mean men are more important than women?  Maybe I should go even simpler, down to the basic "man" and "woman"?  I did so and found:

man   Pronunciation: /man/ noun (plural men /mɛn/)

• 1an adult human male: a small man with mischievous eyes the men’s semi-finals
• a male member of a workforce, team, etc.: over 700 men were made redundant
• (men) ordinary members of the armed forces as distinct from the officers: he had a platoon of forty men to prepare for battle
• a husband or lover: the two of them lived for a time as man and wife
• [with modifier] a male person associated with a particular place, activity, or occupation: a Cambridge man I’m a solid Labour man
• a person with the qualities associated with males, such as bravery, spirit, or toughness: she was more of a man than any of them
• a male pursued or sought by another, especially in connection with a crime: Inspector Bull was sure they would find their man
• dated a manservant or valet: get me a cocktail, my man
• historical a vassal.

• 2a human being of either sex; a person: God cares for all men
• (also Man) [in singular] human beings in general; the human race: places untouched by the ravages of man
• [in singular, with adjective or noun modifier] a type of prehistoric human named after the place where the remains were found: Cro-Magnon man

• 3 (the Man) informal a group or person in a position of authority over others, such as a corporate employer or the police: they’ve mastered their emotive grunge-pop without haggling with the Man
• black slang white people collectively regarded as the controlling group in society: he urged that black college athletes boycott the Man’s Rose Bowl

• 4a figure or token used in playing a board game.

verb (mans, manning, manned) [with object]

• 1(of personnel) work at, run, or operate (a place or piece of equipment) or defend (a fortification): the firemen manned the pumps and fought the blaze
• provide someone to fill (a post): the chaplaincy was formerly manned by the cathedral

• 2 archaic fortify the spirits or courage of: he manned himself with dauntless air

exclamation informal, chiefly North American

• used, irrespective of the sex of the person addressed, to express surprise, admiration, delight, etc., or for emphasis: wow, like cosmic, man

Phrases as —— as the next man as —— as the average person: I’m as ambitious as the next man as one man with everyone acting together or in agreement: the crowd rose to their feet as one man be someone's (or the) man be the person perfectly suited to a particular requirement or task: if it’s war you want, I’m your man be man enough to do (or for) be brave enough to do: he has not been man enough to face up to his responsibilities every man for himself and the Devil take the hindmost proverb everyone should (or does) look after their own interests rather than considering those of others: in previous student flats she’d shared, it was every man for himself [with allusion to a chase by the Devil, in which the slowest will be caught] make a man out of someone (of an experience or person) turn a young man into a mature adult: swimming will make a man out of you man about town a fashionable male socialite: in a well-cut black suit he looked quite the man about town man and boy from childhood: I’ve been with this company man and boy the man in the moon the imagined likeness of a face seen on the surface of a full moon. the man in (or US on) the street the average man: he had been his eyes and ears in the community, voiced the opinions of the man in the street man of action see action man of the cloth a clergyman. man of God a clergyman. a holy man or saint. man of honour a man who adheres to what is right or to a high standard of conduct: as a man of honour he had little alternative but to accompany his friend to America man of the house the male head of a household. man of letters a male scholar or author: he wished to fashion for himself a career as a man of letters man of the match British the team member who has given the most outstanding performance in a particular game: McClair, who scored the only goal, was named man of the match man of the moment a man of importance at a particular time. man of straw (also straw man)

• 1a person compared to a figure made of straw; a sham.

• 2a person undertaking a financial commitment without adequate means.

man of the world see world the man on the Clapham omnibus British the average man, especially with regard to his opinions: his was not a voice in the wilderness; he was speaking for the man on the Clapham omnibus man's best friend an affectionate or approving way of referring to dogs: a collection of photographs of man’s best friend a man's man a man who is more popular and at ease with other men than with women: he looks offended when I tell him he is perceived as a man’s man man to man

• 1 in a direct and frank way between two men: he was able to talk man to man with the delegates

• 2 denoting a defensive tactic in soccer or other sport in which each player is responsible for marking one opponent: the best man-to-man marker in the game

men in (grey) suits powerful men within an organization who exercise their authority anonymously: the prime minister was removed from Ten Downing Street by men in grey suits men in white coats medical or laboratory staff, especially doctors. humorous psychiatrists or psychiatric workers (used to imply that someone is mad): I think the men in white coats will be calling soon the men's (or the men's room) a men’s public toilet. my (or my good or my dear) man British dated a patronizing form of address to a man: come off it, my man, who d’you think you’re talking to? separate (or sort out) the men from the boys informal show or prove which people in a group are truly competent, brave, or mature: this match will separate the men from the boys to a man without exception: to a man, we all took a keen interest in the business Phrasal Verbs man up US informal be brave or tough enough to deal with an unpleasant situation: you just have to man up and take it Derivatives manless adjective

Well, that's a pretty detailed definition of the word "man."  Let's see what we get for the word "woman."

woman   Pronunciation: /ˈwʊmən/ noun (plural women /ˈwɪmɪn/)

• an adult human female: a jury of seven women and five men [as modifier]: a woman doctor
• [with modifier] a female person associated with a particular place, activity, or occupation: one of his sophisticated London women
• a peremptory form of address to a woman: don’t be daft, woman!
• a female worker or employee.
• a female who is paid to clean someone’s house and carry out other domestic duties: a daily woman
• a man’s wife, girlfriend, or lover: he wondered whether Billy had his woman with him

Phrases be one's own woman see own the little woman a condescending way of referring to one’s wife: male fisherfolk who take their catch home for the little woman to gut my good woman British dated a patronizing form of address to a woman: you’re mistaken, my good woman woman of letters a female scholar or author. woman of the streets euphemistic, dated a prostitute. woman of the world see world woman to woman in a direct and frank way between two women: Alice smiled at her, woman to woman [as modifier]: the hands-on, woman-to-woman relationship Derivatives womanless adjective womanlike adjective

Goodness, quite a difference in the depth and breadth of these two definitions.  I wonder what impact these definitions might have on youngsters of either gender?  We all are, in part, what we are taught.  Seems to me the teachings in these definitions point to a reality that men are much more important than women.  In fact, that is the reality in the United States: men are more important than women.  How have we women allowed this to be?  Is this the world we truly want?  Really?

My next blog entry will be a continuation of the term woman-centered.  Have a great day everyone and be gentle with yourselves.

In Sisterhood,
Blue

IMHO: One of the concepts I learned during my three years of Women's Studies was that of "internalized homophobia".  I learned that basically I had hated myself for years because I was a lesbian despite the fact that I was marching in parades, was very "out", and was very active in the Lesbian community.  There are lots of "internalized" prejudices that we carry around within ourselves as a result of the culture we're raised in: "internalized racism (probably what happened with Zimmerman as he is a "man of color" himself yet he killed a young black man), "internalized ageism", and so forth.  What I don't understand is why women cannot seem to even begin to look at the fact that they themselves may be acting out of  "internalized misogyny" when they tend to focus on events that happen to men rather than events that happen to women?  "Internalized" anything can happen to the best and brightest of people.  It's how we're raised, to put people in categories and determine from those "categories" what we want to focus on in our activism.  And until we women learn to look at our own potential "internalized misogyny", we're not going to be effective in making any true social and political changes in our society because we're not focused on women like we should be.  Our focus is pretty much on men.  Look at what makes the news.  Look at what makes the talk shows?  Look at what we post on "Facebook".  A historical example of this misogynous focus is the AIDS epidemic.  Lesbians came storming out of the woodwork to help our brothers dying from AIDS.  Yet we women never got the ERA passed during that similar time frame.  Interesting but also, to me, extremely sad.  We do for men and boys what we won't do for ourselves and our daughters.

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Have a good evening, everyone.  I hope you enjoy today's last update of Web Wanderings.  Keep coming back, it's fun.  Most of the time, anyway.  When I'm not being goaded by my twin sister, Maxine, into indulging in "rants and raves."  I'll try to control that a bit better.  But no promises. Maxine is a very, very strong influence in my life.

IMHO: This has been more fun to update than today's original posting.  I hope you enjoy it.  I'll be back later this afternoon to update again.

IMHO: Did we?  Remember I mean? I got this picture in my e-mail today, 4/5/2012, at 4:57 a.m. I don't remember anything being said yesterday on Facebook about it being the 44th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King. I didn't realize what day it was yesterday at all. But today I do and I now remember exactly what I was doing on this day, April 5, 1967, 44 years ago.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr., killed 44 years ago today

By Rene Lynch
April 4, 2012, 9:40 a.m.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 44 years ago today. The somber anniversary will be marked across the country, including with a wreath-laying ceremony at the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn., which is on the site where King was fatally shot.

And the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., will also mark the anniversary -- its very first, since it just opened to the public last summer -- with a candlelight vigil later this evening.

In the social media world, the anniversary of King's assassination is being noted in a different way -- with a dotted line being drawn between King's assassination and the shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. "From Martin to Martin: Hoodies up on the Mountaintop," reads the headline at the influential website Global Grind. "Today is Wed, April 4, 2012, the 44th anniv of MLK's death, the 38th day since the murder of #Trayvon Martin -- with no arrest," according to a posting on Twitter.

On April 4, 1968, King was staying at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., preparing a speech he was scheduled to give that night at the nearby Mason Temple. The hotel was one of the few places in the area where blacks were welcome to spend the night, according to the Commercial Appeal, and was a haven on the road for the likes of black celebrities and entertainers such as Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton and Aretha Franklin.

When King stepped out onto the balcony before heading over to the temple, a shot rang out: Assassin James Earl Ray had been lying in wait with a clear view from a nearby boardinghouse. Ray escaped that night but was later captured and convicted of King's death; he spent the remainder of his life insisting that he was innocent and that he was being used as a scapegoat.

King had long been the target of bombings and death threats and had often alluded to a belief that his life would be cut short. In fact, one night earlier, in a speech at the Mason Temple, he told those in attendance: "I may not get there with you, but I want you to know that we as a people will get to the promised land."

The National Civil Rights Museum was built up around the motel where the assassination took place, and visitors can still see the room -- Room 306 -- where King slept. Efforts have been made to preserve it exactly as it was, down to an ashtray filled with cigarettes. The museum will not be open this time next year. Renovations will shut its doors on what would be the 45th anniversary of King's assassination, the Commercial Appeal notes. 

Events being held in Memphis to mark the anniversary include a rally organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Council -- an organization that King led until his death -- and the renaming of a street in King's honor.

And at 5:30 p.m. local time, the Rev. Jesse Jackson  -- who was with King at the time of the assassination -- will lay a wreath on the balcony near the spot where King was shot.

The candlelight vigil being held in Washington, D.C., will include a number of dignitaries, including Gandhi's grandson, Arun Gandhi.

Did you know Illinois had a rally in Springfield on March 29, 2012 because of some very hurtful legislation towards women coming up that day in their State capitol?  If not, why not?

         "In the end, we will remember not the words
                            of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
                                                                                       ~Martin Luther King