DISPATCHES FROM THE INTERSECTION OF THE NEWSPEAK DICTIONARY AND THE EDUCATION APOCALYPSE: “Womynx History Month” is off to a rocky start.
Black History Month seemed to go fairly well in February, with plenty of educational events being sponsored and various television specials being dedicated to the topic. But now February has drawn to a close and we’re moving on to Women’s History Month. Well… most of us are, anyway. That apparently doesn’t apply to the folks at Northwest Missouri State University. They recently sent out a (now deleted) tweet announcing their planned schedule of events for “Womynx History Month.” The hilarious backlash to this new, absurd mutation of the English language was immediate and richly deserved. But hey… they were just trying to “promote inclusivity.”
I assume the number of women who approve of “Womynx” is even lower than the number of Latino people who approve of “Latinx.” I’m sorry Helen Reddy passed away in 2020, though. Her version of “I am Womynx, Hear Me Roar” would no doubt have made for compelling listening.