Why We're WOMYN

I am often asked why I so acrimoniously reject the terms "woman" and "women" in reference to myself, and eagerly replace them with "womin" and "womyn". Several times I've had to explain my reason for doing so, and so as a solution, I will post this publicly to various resources available to me online and off.

• Etymology of the Term "Woman"At the age of 15, I visited my local library, and I happened to find a Feminist book focusing on womyn's history and the condition of womyn across the globe, which led me to something interesting. "Women" have never had any independent term to use which would describe their gender in adulthood. Wifmann (wife of a man), lady (wife of a lord), etc. All latin-based languages were inherently patriarchal, and defined womyn as nothing more than the servants, wives, and daughters of men.
  
  In reading this book, I learned that "wo" was a suffix meaning "from", and so "woman" meant "from man". At first, I was fairly skeptical, so I did some research, and found the information to be true. "Woman" emerged from the story told by Abrahamic (and some pagan religions) of the story most commonly known as "Adam & Eve", with Eve being made from the rib of Adam to serve under him, and to be his aid. 

• Deconstructing the Term & Myth
  Feminists, radical lesbians, and womynists developed a new word to describe adult girls, acknowledging birth as opposed to a religious myth that set the foundation for the teachings of which were meant to subjugate womyn. By replacing the "e", with the "y" from gYno, the term "womyn" acknowledges the truth of motherhood. This way, we do not face subjugation when we are addressed by our gender, and can truly reclaim it for ourselves, our mothers, our sisters and daughters.

More information: It is important to point out that this alternative spelling of the word “woman” is not about men.  It is about womyn.  It is about reclaiming a term, that has been used as a reason to discriminate and oppress us for centuries, and making it our own. These alternative spellings of the word “woman” is about the redefinition of ourselves, as we are spiritually, socially, and physically, on our own terms and not in relation to men. Throughout our lives as womyn, we have different and unique experiences that differ from the experiences of men in our society.  It is our way of telling the world that we DO exist separately from men in our society and that we should be acknowledged as such.

Religion is to Feminism, as Oil is to Water

The chains of religion which destroy thought.

Many people believe that Feminism is simply "equal rights for women". That is what you read on the internet, you hear on the radio, and sometimes even see on television... But this isn't Feminism, it's egalitarianism.

Feminism is a series of movements focused on advocation for the rights, empowerment, and liberation of women. But not only for that — equity. Equity meaning; every person gets what they work for. Everything they have, is something they've earned in one form or another.

Some people, believe that there are many forms of Feminism, but this isn't the case. Feminism is Feminism, and women are women. There is no "white Feminism" or "black Feminism". There is not "atheist Feminism", "christian Feminism", or "islamic Feminism".... Truthfully, there is only Feminism.

Feminism: (n.) the collection pf movements focused on the liberation, rights, and empowerment of women.

These labels have been created, mostly to distract from the mission of liberation and freedom. Liberalism has infected Feminism with an agenda to make women submit to the very system that will make them submissive, without them even knowing it, and it's far greater than patriarchy, and it controls men too. hierarchy. Hierarchy is the foundation of patriarchy, and capitalism. These systems support each other, and feed each other their health.

Convince a group of their own inferiority and they will become complicit in their own oppression — otherwise it wouldn't work quite as well as it does. From the time they are born, womyn and girls are given the message from all kinds of sources that they are nothing of any real importance. They are inferior, they are to submit to male authority, and they are trained, from day one, to be a servant and a baby-maker. Check out the little girls pushing her toy pram after she's spent the morning in her toy kitchen making toy lunches. She's conditioned, relentlessly socialized into vain behaviour. She suffers from this conditioning and this inferiority complex. She is offered a chance of real glory in the next life and all she has to do is more of what she does already — exactly as she is told — she believes this, and she grabs hold of it. It may be all she has.

But what created hierarchy is something respected, tolerated, and even embraced across the globe. Religion. Many women sadly identify with religions that give men dominion over them, and imaginary figures, who rule over those men.

Since men first created the idea of a single, omnipotent creator, that divine being has taken the form of a man: no matter what name he answers to, be it Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, or just plain God, what isn't in doubt is that he's a he. His teachings & his various holy books reinforce the message that this life exists solely for men, while the best women can hope for some kind of reward in the next one; as long (as we do as we're told of course), without questioning our lords and masters, and as long as we manage to remain pure of heart, and mind while we devalue ourselves at their feet.

Feminism is a rejection of traditional culture, and systems, in order to invoke a society where people are free from tradition, restrictive hierarchal structures that have had a tight grip on the masses since it's development.

Religion is the application of spirituality. Spirituality is personal, and religion is political. Religion is hierarchical when the world needs democracy, religion is authoritative and uniform when the world needs independent thinking people. Religion means money, ego and power.

“People have only as much liberty as they have the intelligence to want and the courage to take.” ― Emma Goldman