Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. History considered from a feminist viewpoint or emphasizing the actions of women.
- n. A narrative or chronology of events in a woman's life: "the truncated herstory of three black female students” ( Wanda Coleman).
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- Blend of her and history, derived playfully as if the first syllable in history were his, the male pronoun. (Wiktionary)
- Blend of her and history (under an interpretation of the latter as "his story” ). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Fey won't be remembered by history, because herstory is not history.”
“Posted at 06: 01 PM in herstory, pi, sociologie/anthropologie | Permalink”
“And one thing that has occurred, I believe, throughout human herstory is women helping to raise one another's children -- often in an attempt to keep the kids free from sexual predation by adult males.”
“On this day - the birthday of Toni Morrison, who turns 77 - I highlight Margaret Garner dates unknown, whose "herstory" was eulogized and memorialized in what is often considered Morrison's greatest work: the 1988 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Beloved, which was eventually made into a film a decade later, produced and starring Oprah Winfrey and directed by Jonathan Demme.”
“Thanks for the hip hop "herstory" we're always inclined to overlook.”
“Resource, 'herstory': Many of the formations do not have the necessary resources, financial, technical or human, and it thus crucial to share these and maximise their usage.”
“For instance, we already have located in the Women's National Coalition (WNC) a lot of our memory, 'herstory' and resources.”
“But I always considered "herstory" to be a play on the word the same way the lyrics to "Lullabye League/Lollipop Guild" from The Wizard of Oz are sung "From now on you'll be history, You'll be hissed, You'll be hissed, You'll be history.”
“Do you think "herstory" belongs in the same category as "Freedom Toast" or do you think it's just a cute or annoying, depending on your views pun?”
“The problem, in her view, is that far too often "herstory" becomes what she calls "hystery" — a false and melodramatic version of the past.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘herstory’.
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spicolli's Words
terrapin, ravenous, fuck, sepulchral, garlic, suss, queer, curmudgeon, foodie, intricate, omphalos, subversion and 534 more...
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this modern world
Markers of the zeitgeist, don't expect all of these to go the distance. The great majority are taken from Paul McFedries's excellent book "Wordspy"
retail therapy, compulsive shoppi..., clicks-and-mortar, dot.commer, middlescence, boomeritis, dorian graying, sandwich generation, boomeranger, full-nest syndrome, wellderly, brand equity and 226 more...
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Samme's Words
soliloquy, meander, creativity, magic, discovery, happiness, empowerment, abundance, [magnificent], iridescent, artistic, magical and 694 more...
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Femmesque
Curious words having to do with women: positive or negative; feminine, observational, technical, weird, stupid, crass, etc. I loathe some of these words but I'm using this list as a catch-all... ev...
mittelschmerz, gynotikolobomasso..., ingenue, uxorious, hogminny, quim, suffragette, damsel, madame, parturient, testatrix, mediatrix and 188 more...
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Well, Everyone Else Has A Hate-List, ...
When I rule the planet, the undermentioned items shall all be corrrected or expunged. In some cases I don't like the item from a linguistic point of view, in others I don't like what the item repre...
big-box store, ms, wonderation, disinterest, milquetoast, emoticon, herstory, australia, zero-sum game, specialism, assessable, pebblecrete and 52 more...
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UC Santa Cruz most used words
hegemony, deconstruction, misogyny, patriarchy, intertextuality, diaspora, herstory, phallus, deconstruct
Tweets
Looking for tweets for herstory.
seanahan Random House says history is "one who knows", while AHD says it is "learned man", which is probably indicative of the time it was used. Dec 9, 2007
reesetee I know a lot of women who don't care for the term. I'd be surprised if it were a sausage club exclusionary thing, as John so vibrantly puts it. :-) Dec 9, 2007
bilby I await John's ripping yarn to excite my new Hi-Story list. Avanti. Dec 9, 2007
john I like neither this word, nor male chauvinism, so I solved the dilemma by inventing my own etymology for history. Just break up history so the first work is "hi", as in "high", instead of "his", you can think of history as a being a series of high stories, as in, a bunch of ripping good yarns, rather than some sausage club exclusionary thing. Dec 9, 2007
sionnach This word actually triggers my gag reflex. If that makes me a male chauvinist pig, so be it. Dec 9, 2007