Time Magazine has landed itself in trouble with the feminist community for its fourth annual word banishment poll. The Nov. 12 poll, which includes words that Time writer Katy Steinmetz has deemed cringe worthy, included the word feminist.

By including the word feminist in a group of words like “turnt,” “yaaasssss” and “literally,” Time has trivialized the feminist movement and its strides for women throughout history. Most people can agree that words like “bae” and “obvi” are annoying and overused, but the word feminist does not belong on this list. It was wrong of Time to include this word — which resonates strongly with many people — in a list of words considered to be annoying.

Steinmetz went on to explain why she wants to ban the word feminist, saying that it has “become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them.” She compared this positioning to a “politician declaring a party” and said that she believes we should “stick to the issue instead of throwing this label around.”

Steinmetz is looking at the feminist movement in the same way that one would look at a book that they started in the middle. They may have a grasp on the current goings-on but they do not understand the significance of it in relation to what happened in the beginning of the book. Years ago, too much feminism was nowhere near being a problem. Male and female celebrities wouldn’t dare call themselves feminists because the label and issues it represented were not seen in a good light.

Is the word feminist being thrown around a bit today? Maybe — but in our society, which is highly centered on fame and celebrity, having the word claimed by big names is a great way to bring awareness to the movement. The word, movement and work that many people are doing are not diminished by feminism’s blossoming popularity.

On behalf of Time, managing editor Nancy Gibbs has since issued a statement apologizing for the poll, saying that “the word ‘feminist’ should not have been included in a list of words to ban.” Although this is a nice sentiment, even Gibbs’ statement repeated some of the ideas of Steinmetz. She reinforced the idea that debate over the word detracted from actual feminist work, saying “we regret that (the word ‘feminist’)’s inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.”

Humans can focus on more than one thing at a time. We can debate over the use of a word and still fight for the issues this word represents. Trying to eliminate or diminish the importance or use of a word will not help people focus on the issues it represents. All this does is silence the people who identify with this word. It also does not help to frame people who discuss the use of the word as distracted from the issues.

Words aren’t the problem, definitions aren’t the problem and celebrities aren’t the problem. Sexism and gender based oppression within our society is the problem. Time magazine and those who share a similar sentiment should consider the significance or context of the word feminism before comparing it to the likes of “bae.”

Mandisa Shields is a sophomore newspaper and online journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at meshield@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @mandisashields.

Published on November 20, 2014 at 12:01 am