Twitch gets blasted for celebrating 'womxn' instead of Women's History Month
Streaming platform Twitch is coming under fire for tweeting that March is “Womxn’s History Month” and spelling the word women with the letter x instead of an e to be more inclusive.
The tweet, which has since been taken down, read: "March is Womxn’s History Month, Join us in celebrating and supporting all the Womxn creating their own worlds, building their communities, and leading the way on Twitch,” according to the Daily Caller.
In an accompanying blog post, Twitch added that the streaming platform “is a place where creators can build their world and have their voice heard. And womxn are doing that live, every day.”
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The spelling of the word women with an x instead of an e is said by some to be an alternative to the word women because it supposedly has patriarchal roots, the BBC reported.
Others say that the word is intended to communicate inclusiveness toward people who identify as either transgender or nonbinary, though that is disputed as some transgender-identified people want to be seen as actual women and those who claim a nonbinary identity say they are not women at all.
Following outcry from across the ideological spectrum, Twitch apologized for the tweet on Tuesday, writing that they “want to assure you that we have, and will continue to, work with the LGBTQIA+ community. We're still learning."
"Our good intentions don't always equate to positive impact, but we're committed to growing from these experiences, doing better, and ensuring we're inclusive to all," the company said.
The use of “womxn” has appeared in influential fora in recent months, with its proponents insisting that the word fosters greater inclusion.
In September 2020, TedxLondon announced that “TedxLondonWomxn” was returning in a virtual format and invited followers to participate in a short quiz to share their thoughts and ideas to help them steer future programming.
In response to a Twitter-follower who asked, "What is a womxn?" TEDxLondon replied: "No, that's not a typo: 'womxn' is a spelling of 'women' that's more inclusive and progressive. The term sheds light on the prejudice, discrimination, and institutional barriers womxn have faced, and explicitly includes non-cisgender women."
The term "non-cisgender women" refers to individuals who self-identify as either transgender, nonbinary or something else but are biologically male.
Maya Forstater, who was fired from her tax researcher job at a think-tank over comments she made online that were critical of transgender ideology regarding the U.K. Gender Recognition Act, tweeted a response to TEDxLondon: "Women is fine. Womxn sheds no light. It is neither inclusive nor progressive to use unpronounceable buzzwords and suggest that female people don't have a name already."
