We are fully aware that 2017 is over and 2018 is rapidly coming to an end but we would like to make the word of the past year very clear. And we want to do it because, although not all the team is made up with women, the men who are part of it, are our biggest supporters.
The meaning
The Merriam-Webster dictionary announced that “feminism” was the word of the year. This happened because it registred in its online edition more than 70% queries than in previous years.
But I think it is important that we start by seeing its definition in two dictionaries: the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (the RAE) and the Cambridge.
According to the dictionary of the RAE, feminism is “principle of equal rights of women and men; and the movement that fights for the effective realization in all the orders of feminism”.
According to the Cambridge dictionary, feminism is the belief that women should have the same rights, power and opportunities as men and should be treated in the same way.
But how did this word become the word of the year? It all started in January 2017. This word took more strength than it already had, during the Women’s March in Washington. This march took place the day after the possession of Donald Trump as president of the United States.
It is estimated that the march, which was a great demonstration of strength and female union, involved almost 600 thousand people. Thanks to it, it seems that the world realised once again that women had a voice and were organised to fight for their rights. From that moment on, the word made part of the social and political discourse.
In the name of feminism and equality, Hollywood actresses like Natalie Portman, Jennifer Lawrence and Jessica Chastain, denounced the wage gap that exists between the actors. This made it clear that this is not an isolated problem. It showed that the abuse of working women is systematic.
On the other hand, the launch of the series The Handmaid’s Tale and the premiere of Wonder Woman, were events that enhanced people’s interest in this term.
The Handmaid’s Tale was created by Bruce Miller and it is based on the novel published in 1985 by Margaret Atwood. The plot of the series is about a future in which the world’s birth rate plummets as a result of sexually transmitted diseases and environmental pollution. In that chaos, the totalitarian and christian government creates new rules for the United States. In this “new world” women are subjugated. The law states that they have no right to work, to read, or to control money or property.
Jenkins is the first woman to direct a superhero movie with a female protagonist.
On the other hand, the movie Wonder Woman is based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It takes place in 1918 and tells the story of Princess Diana who grows on the Amazon island of Themyscira.
She leaves home to end World War I and becomes Wonder Woman in the process.
We would like to state that this movie is the first superhero movie directed by a woman.
The #METOO movement
Among the feminist wave of 2017, one of the most outstanding episodes, especially in the digital world, was the #metoo movement.
This movement became viral as a hashtag on social networks in October 2017. The idea was to denounce sexual assault and sexual harassment.
This was a series of complaints on social networks that reached the pages of The New Yorker where they exposed sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful producers in the film world.
Because of the hashtag #metoo, many victimisers have already been socially condemned, especially those who are in the public eye, actors, producers and directors lost their jobs for this reason.
The #NIUNAMENOS movement in Latin America
In Latin America, women have also fought. Examples of this are Mexico and Argentina, countries with numerous cases of feminicide. There were movements like #NiUnaMenos and #VivasNosQueremos, they were present after the assassination of Mara Castilla, a Mexican girl of just 19 years old.
Ni Una Menos is the name of the feminist movement and a collective protest against violence against women. It mostly dealt with feminicide, which emerged in Argentina in 2015.
In Colombia, the #ColombiaTieneEscritoras movement took place. In it, more than 40 writers raised their voices in a public manifesto in which they rejected the exclusion of female literature in a panel made by the Ministry of Culture of Colombia in the framework of the year Colombia-France.
We, in this small magazine, agree with the importance of this word. We believe that more than a word and movement that is fashionable, it is a concept of life. But we wonder how many times will it have to be the word of the year to see really lasting changes?
