Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
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Language itself became an issue for the “new
feminists:” namely, do males use language to help
perpetuate their roles as masters?
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Yes! Shout the
feminists, language is “living proof’ of women’s
oppression. Thus titles such as “chairperson”—
instead of “chairman”— and “congressone”—
instead of “congressman”— have begun to be heard
in the West. Likewise, “sportsoneship” instead of
“sportsmanship,” “herstory” instead of “history,”
and “spokesone” instead of “spokesman.” More
well known is the feminists rejection of “Mrs.” and
“Miss.” as a form of address — because it allegedly
stigmatizes women by revealing their marital
status. Instead, “Ms.” — pronounced
miz
— has
been widely adopted.
At the extreme radical fringe, the “new feminists”
are waging an assault not just on society, but on the
limitations of biology. Some argue that through the
science of eugenics the genetic code could be altered
to produce a different kind of man or woman.
Sputnik
magazine of October 1987 gave substance to
this view with an article titled, “Should Daddies Be
Mummies?” The article dealt with the theory of sex
change forwarded by a German doctor, in which
