This morning the New York Times reports, “After Renee Good Killing, Derisive Term for White Women Spreads on the Far Right” (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/us/politics/white-women-conservatives.html?searchResultPosition=1). The term, an acronym, is AWFUL, which stands for Affluent White Female Urban Liberal. Okay, first let’s note that demonizing someone who was killed, regardless of whether you agree with her politics, is despicable. In fact, despicable doesn’t capture this; I really can’t find a word strong enough to express my dismay at this kind of heartlessness. Really, people: The children are watching.

But the other matter to note is that once again, women who speak up, show up, and expect to be taken seriously are being targeted with a derisive term. Women who speak up are called AWFUL, Libtard, Feminista, just to name a few of the 57 pages of pejorative terms for women listed on Wikipedia. Significantly, this isn’t a solely right-wing problem; not long ago a conservative woman couldn’t speak her mind without being labeled a “Karen.” These derisive names communicate, “Women need to shut up. Women who do speak up are worthy of contempt and scorn.”

I claimed the label “feminist” when I was a teenager in the late 1960’s. I continue to claim the term whether it’s intended as a compliment or an insult. I agree with Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie that we should all be feminists. Feminism merely advocates for equity between men and women. It does not seek to reverse gender roles or make men inferior. So, it disheartens me that our society persists in a blind and nearly unconscious demeaning of women who want to be heard, who have something to say, who ought to be taken as seriously as their male counterparts – regardless of whether you agree with them. No wonder we haven’t been able to elect a woman as U.S. President. Something deep in the core of our culture tells us women should remain silent, and if they do speak up, they should be ridiculed.

By the way, in contrast, Wikipedia offers 30 pages of pejorative terms for men. Most of them attack a man’s masculinity, which is equally tragic given that cultural norms of masculinity haven’t really proven to be helpful in recent decades, or, perhaps, centuries. As far as I can tell, however, few if any of these derisive terms for men are intended to silence them.

How long, O Lord?

© Joanne Whitt 2026 all rights reserved.