Effemination to refemination: Reclaiming the powers of the feminine.

What is it about?

In the wake of the #metoo era, the authors are attempting to bring awareness to the power and potency of words and language to determine social agency and access to social justice. There appears to be no word in the English language to articulate the stripping of feminine power. Both emasculation and effemination are defined as the action of stripping away of masculine power leaving one more feminine and without power. It is established in the English language that power is equated with being male, and to lose power is equated with being female. Our very language serves as a cultural gaslighting. Without language to articulate the experience of loss of feminine power, it is much more difficult to identify the phenomenon and consequently take action to amend this social injustice. This article is an act of refemination: reclaiming the word effemination to articulate the deprivation of feminine power and exploring what that entails.

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Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Why is it important?

There appears to be no word in the English language to articulate the stripping of feminine power. Both emasculation and effemination are defined as the action of stripping away of masculine power leaving one more feminine and without power. It is established in the English language that power is equated with being male, and to lose power is equated with being female. Our very language serves as a cultural gaslighting. Without language to articulate the experience of loss of feminine power, it is much more difficult to identify the phenomenon and consequently take action to amend this social injustice. This article is an act of refemination: reclaiming the word effemination to articulate the deprivation of feminine power and exploring what that entails.