Nottingham Contemporary’s most recent exhibition ‘Still I Rise’ is a timely exploration of personal and public acts of resistance through the lens of “Womxn”.
“Womxm”? According to the gallery’s definition, this term “expresses that womxn are not the extension of men”, and is also supposed to be inclusive of trans-women who could otherwise be excluded. It is an attempt to shift from the patriarchal language that we are bound by.
However, upon entering the space and reading this word I felt a sort of exclusion myself. I don’t identify with being a womxn (or womyn, for that matter, a term used by some feminists in the 1970s). I felt a conscious barrier come up between me and the works on show, like somehow I wasn’t a part of the narrative of the exhibition.
“Womxm”? According to the gallery’s definition, this term “expresses that womxn are not the extension of men”, and is also supposed to be inclusive of trans-women who could otherwise be excluded. It is an attempt to shift from the patriarchal language that we are bound by.
However, upon entering the space and reading this word I felt a sort of exclusion myself. I don’t identify with being a womxn (or womyn, for that matter, a term used by some feminists in the 1970s). I felt a conscious barrier come up between me and the works on show, like somehow I wasn’t a part of the narrative of the exhibition.
And anyway, how on earth is it pronounced? I don’t know about you but my brain stumbles on the word everytime I try to read it. Is it wo-minx? Womkzen? Something sounding far, far too close to womb-skin? Or is it just pronounced women, thus rendering it useless if not read?
Wiktionary entry for Womxn
After leaving the exhibition this term kept playing on my mind. Should I have been more open-minded about this? Am I being ignorant? Is it because I am fortunate enough to have never felt excluded by the term ‘woman’? The use of the word womxn became my lasting thoughts of the exhibition, so I went out to research a little more on how other women/womxn felt about the issue.
Having stated that one of the main groups aimed to be included by using this term was trans-women, this seems to have fallen short too. In October 2018 the Wellcome Collection used this term in order to create an inclusive environment for all women and were hit with strong backlash, with the Chair of the Trans Media Watch stating that they would never use the term womxn, that trans women should be included within the term women “because we feel it's important for people to recognise that trans women are women”.
Some people on Twitter stated that they would not use the term womxn as long as man was still spelt man (rather than mxn). What about the trans-men excluded by the term men?
The Wellcome Collection published an apology after the strength of the criticism and removed the term from their website and social media pages entirely.
Their attempt to be ‘all-inclusive’ seems to have done just the opposite. I don't believe using a catch-all term works. In attempting to avoid excluding specific groups of people they seem to have excluded others.
This, however, is in stark contrast to three London universities, with Goldsmiths Student Union fully adopting the term without any complaints.
I think perhaps it comes down to choice, I wasn’t given the choice as to whether - within this exhibition - I was a woman or a womxn and it distanced me from what was being said. This, however, was a momentary thing for me, only for the duration of the exhibition, and it got me thinking - really thinking - about how exclusionary it must be for those of us who don't identify with man or woman, the two words and categories that we see everywhere, everyday. Although I had considered this previously and read and listened to people’s experiences, it wasn’t until I experienced it for myself (in the minuscule, momentary way that I did) that I realised just how separating and isolatory it can be.
Perhaps Nottingham Contemporary and Wellcome Collection intentions were there but the execution wasn't as thought through as it needed to be.
I would be interested to know what you guys think with regards to woman/womxn, is it exclusionary by its attempts at inclusion, or are we on to a good thing here?
Having stated that one of the main groups aimed to be included by using this term was trans-women, this seems to have fallen short too. In October 2018 the Wellcome Collection used this term in order to create an inclusive environment for all women and were hit with strong backlash, with the Chair of the Trans Media Watch stating that they would never use the term womxn, that trans women should be included within the term women “because we feel it's important for people to recognise that trans women are women”.
Some people on Twitter stated that they would not use the term womxn as long as man was still spelt man (rather than mxn). What about the trans-men excluded by the term men?
The Wellcome Collection published an apology after the strength of the criticism and removed the term from their website and social media pages entirely.
Their attempt to be ‘all-inclusive’ seems to have done just the opposite. I don't believe using a catch-all term works. In attempting to avoid excluding specific groups of people they seem to have excluded others.
This, however, is in stark contrast to three London universities, with Goldsmiths Student Union fully adopting the term without any complaints.
I think perhaps it comes down to choice, I wasn’t given the choice as to whether - within this exhibition - I was a woman or a womxn and it distanced me from what was being said. This, however, was a momentary thing for me, only for the duration of the exhibition, and it got me thinking - really thinking - about how exclusionary it must be for those of us who don't identify with man or woman, the two words and categories that we see everywhere, everyday. Although I had considered this previously and read and listened to people’s experiences, it wasn’t until I experienced it for myself (in the minuscule, momentary way that I did) that I realised just how separating and isolatory it can be.
Perhaps Nottingham Contemporary and Wellcome Collection intentions were there but the execution wasn't as thought through as it needed to be.
I would be interested to know what you guys think with regards to woman/womxn, is it exclusionary by its attempts at inclusion, or are we on to a good thing here?
Holly Daizy Broughton
She Performs Curator
She Performs Curator
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Photography credit: the author