Historical Notes on the Vocabulary of the Women's Movement

Abstract

DESPITE ITS GREAT CONCERN with language, the contemporary women's movement has produced no historical study of its own terminology. The origins of key terms such as sexism, male chauvinism, and women' liberation have received virtually no attention in either feminist or lexicographical literature. My intention in the present paper is to trace the most important terms in the feminist lexicon to their earliest usages and to chart their subsequent development and ultimate fate. My findings are based on extensive research in primary materials, including radical literature, pertaining to the rise of modern feminism. In a number of instances, I have interviewed the prime actors, the word-coiners themselves, in an attempt to obtain the most authoritative information possible.'