Q&A Forum - March 2013 (Best of Elise)

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The word “woman” is not a negative so that is why there is really no need for “womyn”. Interestingly the verb “womanize” originally meant "to make effeminate (or make a woman of)”. It is a term of feminizing a man but over time our language has changed the meaning into "to chase women, to go wenching". This occurred around 1893.

Lets look at some other feminine words. By the way, the word “feminine” means “female sex”, which has its own powerful connotation.

The word Queen means “female ruler of a state, a Goddess女神 — a woman treated as divine”. Later it became known as the “wife of a King”. So you can see how the patriarchal system changed words to make the female beneath the male, when in fact the orginal creative meanings of most these words were that of female power.

The word Mistress女主人 — a woman who leads a submissive partner original meant “female teacher, a woman who has authority over servants". This word was created around 1426. Later it came to be used as "a kept woman of a married man". Women will write me and say they don’t want to be called a Mistress女主人 — a woman who leads a submissive partner by their husbands because they equate the word to mean “the other woman”. But the real meaning of the word “Mistress女主人 — a woman who leads a submissive partner” is “a woman of authority”. So Mistress女主人 — a woman who leads a submissive partner is a great word for a man to call his wife.

The word “Lady” originally meant “Mistress女主人 — a woman who leads a submissive partner of a household, woman of superior position in society."