Merriam-Webster said “feminism” as its word of the year for 2017. (Peter Morgan/Associated Press)
This is the year when a sea of pink dominated the streets of several American cities, the year when #MeToo became a symbolic driving force against sexual misconduct by men, and when a group of women — “The Silence Breakers” — graced the cover of Time as the voices that launched that movement.
These events, says Merriam-Webster, are the reasons 2017 was a big year for feminism — at least literally.
The online dictionary has dubbed “feminism” its word of the year, meaning it is the most-searched word on Merriam-Webster’s website. Lookups for the definition of feminism increased by 70 percent over last year. There were also several major spikes that coincide with major news events, said Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster’s editor at large.
“No one word can ever encapsulate all the news, events, or stories of a given year, particularly a year with so much news and so many stories,” Sokolowski said. “But when a single word is looked up with great volume, it also stands out as one associated with several different important stories. We can learn something about ourselves through the prism of vocabulary.”
Sokolowski said the first such spike happened in January, when thousands of women packed the streets of several cities in the United States and beyond in a massive act of defiance against a newly inaugurated president. Discussions on what the word meant to attendees and organizers of the Women’s March, and whether the protest was a show of feminism, fueled the spike, he said.
Searches for the word spiked again the following month, when Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, distanced herself from the term.
“It’s difficult for me to call myself a feminist in the classic sense because it seems to be very anti-male and it certainly is very pro-abortion, and I’m neither anti-male or pro-abortion. So, there’s an individual feminism, if you will, that you make your own choices…. I look at myself as a product of my choices, not a victim of my circumstances,” Conway said during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland last February.
Conway praised Trump for hiring women and encouraged women to run for president. She also decried the “presumptive negativity” about women in positions of power.
“You know, this whole sisterhood, this whole ‘let’s go march for women’s rights’ and, you know, just constantly talking about what women look like or what they wear or making fun of their choices or presuming that they’re not as powerful as the men around,” she said.
Conway did not respond to an email requesting comment Tuesday morning about Merriam-Webster crediting her statement for the popularity of the word “feminism.”
Merriam-Webster said the storm of revelations in the latter half of 2017 and the emergence of #MeToo, a hashtag that countless of women used on social media to say that they have been victims of some form of sexual misconduct or harassment, resulted in a steady increase in searches for what feminism is.
Allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore, as first revealed by The Washington Post, rocked the special election in Alabama, where voters on Tuesday are selecting a candidate to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Movies also played a role.
Merriam-Webster said curiosity about the definition of feminism spiked following the release of “Wonder Woman,” headlined by Jewish actress Gal Gadot and created by the first woman to direct a big-budget superhero movie, and the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on a novel about a dystopian and totalitarian society where women are stripped of their rights and forced into sexual servitude.
The definition of feminism has evolved since it was first entered in the English dictionary by Noah Webster in 1841. Once defined as simply “the qualities of females,” feminism is now “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Another word that became popular this year is “complicit,” which ranks No. 2 in Merriam-Webster’s top 10 list and was recently declared word of the year by dictionary.com. Both online dictionaries said spikes in searches for the word involved Ivanka Trump, the president’s oldest daughter and a current White House adviser. Merriam-Webster said the word spiked in March when Ivanka Trump responded to accusations that she was being complicit in her father’s decisions.
“I don’t know that the critics who may say that of me, if they found themselves in this very unique and unprecedented situation that I am now in, would do any differently than I am doing,” Ivanka Trump said. She added later: “I don’t know what it means to be complicit. But you know, I hope time will prove that I have done a good job and, much more importantly, that my father’s administration is the success I know it will be.”
She was later parodied by “Saturday Night Live,” when Scarlett Johansson, dressed in a glittery gold gown, glided into a gilded room as she modeled for a fragrance called Complicit.
Other words that made Merriam-Webster’s top 10 are: recuse, popularized by Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from investigations involving Russia and the presidential election; dotard, an old-fashioned word that North Korean President Kim Jong Un used to described President Trump; and gaffe, specifically, the envelope fiasco that led to the announcement of the wrong winner for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
Merriam-Webster has become popular over the past two years for its viral trolling of Trump. The dictionary mocked Trump several times in 2016, when the then-presidential candidate misspelled words in his tweets (unpresidented, honer, leightweight and chocker).
John Wagner and Amy B Wang contributed to this report.
Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren are front and center, alongside co-stars Mark Hamill, John Boyega and the late Carrie Fisher, in the new trailer for ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’ Lucasfilm
Unless you’ve been held captive by a Wampa, crash-landed a TIE Fighter on Jakku or were eaten by the Sarlacc — we see you there, Boba Fett, keep hope alive — it’s probably not news that there’s another Star Wars movie heading our way.
With the arrival of Star Wars: The Last Jedi (in theaters Thursday night), nerds and civilians alike will again be busting out their Star Wars tapes and DVDs, special editions or original recipe, and rewatching the eight previous films to get jacked up for the ninth chapter in this galactic saga.
We’re no different. We’re binging them again, too, and these are the rankings you’re looking for.
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get a bad rap and, well, they kind of deserve it at times. Especially this one. What basically is a two-hour trailer for the rest of Anakin Skywalker’s story is kind of a mess — he was immaculately conceived? What’s this about midichlorians and the Force? The pod-race set piece is fun the first five times yet gets old quick, Darth Maul is the coolest guy in the movie and he’s in it for all of three minutes, trade negotiations are not the way to start a sci-fi movie, and as for Jar Jar Binks … yeah. One thing it does do well is set up the political atmosphere that leads to the Empire and introduces Anakin as the chosen one who will bring balance to the Force. Just not in the way anybody expects.
8. Star Wars: Episode II — Attack of the Clones (2002)
There are so many sleek special effects used in this thing that you miss the trash heaps and spit-and-gum filmmaking of Lucas’ original movies. Also, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman have ZERO chemistry as doomed lovers Anakin and Padmé — they have a picnic in the middle of the movie, battle monsters together on Geonosis and get married at the end, and yet even a modicum of actual romance isn’t to be found. That all said, Clones isn’t a bad film and it’s pretty good whenever Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan Kenobi is around: His and Anakin’s chase after Zam Wesell is a scene from the great Jedi buddy-cop comedy we never got, and the discovery of the Republic’s clone army on the rainy planet Kamino is obviously important. (Never forget, though: Stormtroopers clone troopers.)
7. Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005)
It’s no coincidence that the prequel that’s closest to the original trilogy in tone, story and theme is the best one. Anakin finally has his full turn to the dark side, though it still seems a little whiplash-y how quickly he goes from broody, anti-authoritarian kid to child-killing, baddest man in the galaxy. And Padmé dying from a broken heart is a little much. However, Yoda takes on Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious/Emperor in a neato lightsaber battle, when Order 66 comes down it’s a little heartbreaking, and Obi-Wan and Anakin’s violent brawl on Mustafar is arguably the most hellacious in any Star Wars film.
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The results are a mixed bag: Ex-con Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) heads up the squad of armed misfits to steal the Death Star plans, though a snarky droid ends up being the best character in the bunch (for the record, K-2SO is way cooler than C-3PO); the Empire is full of bickering bureaucrats, which is fun to watch though bad for getting the Death Star done in a timely manner; and Darth Vader power walks into scenes that both undermine his icon status yet also cement it. While the fan service goes too far — for example, the old-school CGI character who is just as distracting as Jar Jar — Rogue One does introduce some neato supporting aliens like Admiral Raddus, a military mashup of Patton, Churchill and a lobster.
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porgs and bad guys with British accents snarling, “Rebel scum,” there’s a lot to love in writer/director Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII. Fans have plenty to unpack in a lengthy runtime and Last Jedi, like other franchise vehicles, demands repeat viewings, but Luke Skywalker is the coolest he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Plus, the next-generation heroes of the Resistance take a great leap in being a real rebellion like we saw in the original trilogy. Johnson is also winningly subversive, having Luke call out his own past and challenging the foundation that Lucas put in place 40 years ago — one character even says, “Good guys, bad guys. Made-up words.” The galaxy is no longer a hotbed of chosen ones, a place where a nobody, a lowly First Order janitor or a Resistance mechanic, can save the universe — a switch from the days of Anakin and Luke. Last Jedi is unsurprisingly dedicated to “our princess” Carrie Fisher, and her final role speaks volumes to the legacy of the core characters played by Fisher, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, yet also points out the need for fresh icons to take the franchise to new heights.
4. Return of the Jedi (1983)
Let’s just put this out there now: Ewoks aren’t that bad. And the alien creature quotient is at an all-time high when you toss in Jabba the Hutt’s crew, Admiral Ackbar and Nien Nunb. What makes this movie so special are all the satisfying conclusions. Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) says goodbye to Yoda in a touching moment, Leia (Carrie Fisher) finding out about her sibling connection to Luke is emotional but not cloying, the Rebel Alliance vs. Empire space sequence is a highlight, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) is less of a scoundrel than ever, and Luke and Vader’s climactic father-son throwdown is a thing of redemptive wonder. Check yourself for a pulse if you’re not getting the chills after Vader tosses the Emperor down a shaft or when he says “Let me look on you with my own eyes” to Luke before dying. A perfect ending — at least until ol’ George went and got rid of the Ewoks’ celebratory “Yub nub” song and stuck young Anakin in the Dead Jedi Ghost Club.
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
Director J.J. Abrams introduces the best characters since fans first laid eyes on Han, Luke and Leia. Rey (Daisy Ridley) is wicked smart and a capable hero in a universe with the baddies of the First Order on the warpath, ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) and Han are brothers from another mother, X-Wing pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) is as cool and refreshing as a tall glass of blue milk, and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) does his best Vader impression as a maniacal villain with some serious emotional issues. Abrams gets dangerously close to recycling old material, but instead he uses those familiar motifs to set the stage for an exciting third trilogy and crafts arguably the best final shot ever in a Star Wars film.
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Whether Han shot first or not, the original remains the real deal mostly because of all the great character moments. Luke is a whiny farmboy who has big dreams when he looks out over the two-sun horizon of Tatooine and he knows his destiny lies beyond. Old “Ben” Kenobi explaining to Luke that Darth Vader “murdered” his father Anakin, a scene that has much more richness revisiting it later. Han cynically explaining that hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster, though it seems like he’s trying to convince himself of this a bit. C-3PO constantly complaining to R2-D2 and Artoo taking it like a champ. And Leia putting on a brave face as she faces Vader and the destruction of her planet. Even Vader feeling there’s something up when Luke makes his trench run on the Death Star. We don’t need to know much about their history or where they come from to quickly fall in love with all these players as they begin a long journey that is still going.
1. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Simply the best. It might rank highly just due to AT-ATs, the Imperial Walkers that are arguably the coolest things that have ever stomped across a movie screen. Yet there is so much greatness to Empire on a surface level but also digging deeper. Vader’s reveal to Luke about being the kid’s father is an all-time truth bomb, and is made better when compared to Luke’s visions of the man behind the mask when training with Yoda. Luke training with Yoda and each kinda getting ticked off at the other is priceless. But really Empire is like a Star Destroyer full of these scenes: Han saving Luke in the deadly cold of Hoth by warming him up in Tauntaun guts; Lando Calrissian betraying his old friend Han in order to save his city; Han and Leia’s “I love you/I know” exchange before the smuggler gets frozen in carbonite. And on and on. Once could argue that it’s one of the best sequels of all time but for this series at least, it’s the chapter that takes a cool sci-fi fairy tale with Arthurian overtones and sent it on its way to being a masterwork of storytelling.
