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A Change.org petition calling on the Oxford University Press (OUP) to change the 鈥渟exist鈥� terms for women in some of its reference works has gathered over tens of thousands of support online.
The petition, was created by Maria Beatrice Giovanardi and has over 31,000 signatures as of this writing. Gionavardi launched the petition last June, pointing out words that the Oxford鈥檚 English Dictionary listed as synonyms for 鈥渨oman,鈥� Among the words she noted were b*tch, besom, baggage, wench, frail, piece and mare, among many others.
鈥�These are the words which the Oxford鈥檚 English Dictionary online tells us mean the same as 鈥榳oman.鈥� This sexist dictionary must change鈥�,鈥� said Giovanardi then.听鈥淭hese examples听show women as sex objects,听subordinate, and/or an irritation to men.鈥�
Oxford鈥檚 definition and synonyms of 鈥渨oman鈥� in Google鈥檚 search results听 (Image: Google)
鈥淭hese misogynistic definitions have become widespread because search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo license the use of Oxford Dictionaries for their definitions,鈥� she added. 鈥淭his can influence the way that women are spoken about online. Should an institution like the Oxford University Press鈥� 鈥妏ortray women this way?鈥�
Giovanardi鈥檚 latest update came on Sept. 13, saying there has been no direct response from OUP since the launch of the petition. She, however, has seen some significant changes since then.
For one, she saw that official social media accounts of Oxford Dictionaries have gone 鈥渟trangely quiet鈥� 10 days after the launch of the campaign. The channels have also stopped responding to people鈥檚 comments and tweets when they previously did, as per Giovanardi.
She also saw a subtle change in the search results of Google and Bing when someone searches for a word鈥檚 definition or synonym.
鈥�Previously, the definition looked like听听it was generated by Google and Bing. Recently, this changed to the definitions and synonyms being credited to Oxford, via a widget saying 鈥楩rom Oxford鈥� (Google) and Powered by Oxford Dictionaries(Bing)鈥�,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t is important that search engines directly quote their sources, the place from where they get such dangerous content.鈥�
Although Giovanardi did not get a direct response from OUP, a from its head of lexical content strategy, Katherine Connor, regarding the petition was shared in a blog post on OUP鈥檚 website in August, as per CNN on Sept. 18.
Connor clarified that the content mentioned in the petition does not appear in the Oxford English Dictionary, a scholarly dictionary covering the full history of English. They are instead derived from the Oxford Thesaurus of English and the Oxford Dictionary of English, which cover 鈥渃ontemporary English usage and are accessible online in a variety of formats.鈥�
鈥�Sensibilities regarding language are constantly changing, and our editorial team is always grateful for feedback to ensure that the status of offensive or denigrating terms is clear to our readers鈥�,鈥� said Connor. 鈥淥ur editors are investigating whether there are senses of woman which are not currently covered but should be added in a future update.鈥澨� Cody Cepeda /ra
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