The words womxn/womyn/folx etc

[IstayedForTheFeminism]

Where did they come from? Why do people use them instead of the normal spellings?

I've just seen a video on insta that someone I follow shared. It says they are words used by T*s to exclude TW.

But the only people I've ever known to use the alternative spellings are people who believe TWAW
It's getting to the point where even "trans-allies" are going to be saying 'transphobic' things!

I have been told that womxn was initially created to be 'inclusive' to trans women, so it must have come from the handmaidens? But I have also been told that many TRAs don't like it now as it's a reminder that they needed to be included in the first place rather than having always been in the group. Some sites use it to really mean 'non-men' which is the most insulting thing of all to me as I don't identify as a 'non-man', but supposed to include every kind of trans and nonbinary and also boring ordinary women.

The 'womyn' is much older. Others may know more about it, but I think it was created by second wave radical feminists so that the word 'women' didn't include any 'men'.

I have no idea where 'folx' came from. It seems a pointless respelling of 'folks'.

As an aside, most Latinas and Latinos dislike the new US term Latinx which has been created within small social justice circles and did not arise naturally from the ground level but has been assigned to the masses from above.

Womyn was in use by Feminists and Lesbians in the 60s.

Just by been watching Miriam Margolyes, and she mentioned it

I thought that same @nepeta , that womxn was meant to be inclusive.

The video did actually mention the terms being used to exclude men. I rewatched it and must have forgotten that bit! It makes sense, although I'm personally fine with the word woman.

So it seems the words were originally intended to be inclusive of TW, but now someone has decided they are actually exclusive, because twaw. Righto. Its not often I think we should go back in time, mostly things are improving. But we really need to reverse a few years on all this nonsense.

There seems to be a weird thing at the moment around creating these new words for groups with an "x" in them.

It reminds me of Perdita X Dream, real name Agnes Nitt from Terry Pratchett. The X makes you MUCH cooler and less pedestrian.

How do you pronounce womxn?

Wtaf

'Womxn' used to be the term du jour for trans activists and self-identified trans allies, and it was obligatory to use it to signal your allyship. Publications such as Pxxx News used it. And then the Fire Nation attacked everything changed.

Back in the autumn of 2020, TedxLondon, a London branch of TED Talks (?), explained the term womxn thus:

Why we're using 'womxn'

No, that's not a typo: 'womxn' is a spelling of 'women' that's more inclusive and progressive. The term sheds light on the prejudice, discrimination, and institutional barriers womxn have faced, and explicitly includes non-cisgender women.

It proved unpopular and they got ratio'd into the cellar.

A little bit after that, we had a bit of DARVO, as the Brains Trust that is the trans activist social sphere realised that they were othering themselves from being women. The next time someone with a public platform (I can't remember who it was now) used it, they got attacked for using an exclusionary term. It was like watching a mob perform in some sort of synchronised gaslighting championships. However, it got the message out there. As a lurker, I knew the message had been received, when P××k News were caught editing their old articles to remove all the usages of "womxn".

like watching a mob perform in some sort of synchronised gaslighting championships

I actually snorted at that

At some point the idea that "womxn" had been invented by TERFs looked like it was gaining some traction, which could have finally spared us all, but it seems like it was a bit of a stretch too far, alas.

I found something from the precipitating incident. It was Twitch, a medium for watching people play computer games, that ended up in the doghouse, for an International Womxn's Day Promotion. It's not exactly written from a feminist perspective, but the important thing is that it has screenshots of it all as it happened.

Twitch Apologizes For Attempt To Refer To Women as Womxn Following Backlash From LGBTQ+ Community - Bounding Into Comics

The Wellcome foundation was going to host an event - the word womxshdueksn (whatever) was used in the title and lots of people did contact them to say it was offensive.

The event was pulled and never put on again…

I remember some of this. When women said they didn't like to be referred to as womxn that was tough, too bad. But as soon as "the LGBTQ+ community" complained, whoosh it was gone.

See also: ‘born in the wrong body’.

previously used by TRAs everywhere - and the cause of hilarious gasps when disputed - they now claim it was invented by ‘terms’ to make them look silly.

It drives me mad, I hate this kind of crap. Especially “folkx” and even “folks/folk” when used in a genderwoo context. I don’t remember it being used before trans ideology and pushing self-ID took off. “Transgender folx” “non-binary folk” aaargh it’s so twee and pseudo-bucolic, as if to indicate trans people are all lovely 17th-century farmers, fairies and Morris dancers who are too pure for this world. And that in itself seem like an attempt to distract us from the fetish-elevating, boundary-smashing and misogyny of it all. I don’t know if anyone else knows what I mean or if I’ve just finally lost my mind.

I only use folks/folx in irony. Makes me think of old 70s folk singers trying to be trendy on kids tv…

Oh and yes agree about all the Darvo and gaslighting every time something turns out to be counter-productive or dodgy - suddenly it wasn’t genderwoo’s idea after all, but bullying/made by those nasty women. It reminds me so much of my gaslighting ex. And the stupidity - the evidence is in writing everywhere.

Clearly the gaslighting almost worked because i thought i was going made thinking the TRAs had used these terms originally!

I might start referring to my household as 'fxm'. They think "fam" is cringe (it is) so will hate fxm even more

Clearly the gaslighting almost worked because i thought i was going made thinking the TRAs had used these terms originally!

I might start referring to my household as 'fxm'. They think "fam" is cringe (it is) so will hate fxm even more

Clearly the gaslighting almost worked because i thought i was going made thinking the TRAs had used these terms originally!

I might start referring to my household as 'fxm'. They think "fam" is cringe (it is) so will hate fxm even more

Oh ffs. Sorry for multiple posts. New MN is glitchy

For fuxsake!

" twee and pseudo-bucolic"
Thank you so much @RoseLunarPink for putting into words to why I hate 'folks' so much. This is so much more descriptive than my usual 'it's just shit'.

like watching a mob perform in some sort of synchronised gaslighting championships

<mops coffee from keyboard>

For fuxsake!

From the posts above:

"How do you pronounce womxn?"

"Wtaf?"

Perfect answer.