Editing Alternative spellings of woman (section)

== 2010s: fourth-wave feminism and ''womxn'' ==
In the mid 2010s, [[fourth-wave feminism]] focused on [[intersectionality]] and debated whether to use ''womxn'' as a term more inclusive of trans women, or whether to avoid ''womxn'' because it implied trans women are not women.

[[File:-trustwomxn (39116723554).jpg|thumb|Womxn's March on Seattle, 2018]]
In 2017, the [[Womxn's March on Seattle]] chose to use the term "womxn" to promote the march. Elizabeth Hunter-Keller, the event's communications chair, told ''The New York Times'' that they chose it based upon the recommendation of a core organizer, who was a nonbinary person, and to reflect the organizing group's diversity.<ref name="breenakerr">{{Cite news|last=Kerr|first=Breena|date=14 March 2019|title=What Do Womxn Want?|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/style/womxn.html|access-date=22 June 2020}}</ref>  Nita Harker, a sociologist and organizer of the march praised the term ''womxn'' for its ambiguity in pronunciation, saying that it forces users to "stop and think".<ref name="markpeters" /> ''[[The Boston Globe]]'', reporting on the march, called ''womxn'' term "a powerful, increasingly popular label, encompassing a broader range of gender identities than 'woman'—or even older feminist terms such as 'womyn'{{Nbsp}}... a nontraditional spelling for people whose gender identity doesn’t fit in the traditional boxes".<ref name="markpeters">{{Cite news|last=Peters|first=Mark|date=9 May 2017|title=Womyn, wimmin, and other folx|work=Boston Globe|url=https://www3.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2017/05/09/womyn-wimmin-and-other-folx/vjhPn82ITGgCCbE12iNn1N/story.html?arc404=true|access-date=22 June 2020}}</ref>

In January 2018, [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] held the Indigenous Womxn's March, dedicated to [[Missing and murdered Indigenous women|missing and murdered indigenous]] girls, women, and transgender people.<ref name="katebuck">{{Cite news|last=Buck|first=Kate|date=11 October 2018|title=Why are people getting so angry at changing the spelling of 'woman' to 'womxn'?|work=Metro.uk|url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/10/11/why-are-people-getting-so-angry-at-changing-the-spelling-of-woman-to-womxn-8027962/|access-date=23 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-womens-march-estimates-50000-attendees-after-trump-inauguration/485687016|title=Seattle women's march estimates 50,000 attendees after Trump inauguration|last=EndPlay|date=2017-01-21|website=KIRO|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-31}}</ref>

In 2018, student university groups in the US and UK used ''womxn'' in communications, such as advertising for "Womxn’s Basketball Session" and "Womxn of Color Network".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Guy |first1=Jack |publisher=CNN |title=Women or 'womxn'? Students adopt inclusive language |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/uk/womxn-inclusive-language-gbr-scli-intl/index.html |accessdate=23 October 2020 |work=CNN}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lencki |first1=Maria |title='Woman,' 'womxn' or 'womyn': Campus feminist groups opt for alternative spelling |url=https://www.thecollegefix.com/woman-womxn-or-womyn-campus-feminist-groups-opt-for-alternative-spelling/ |website=The College Fix |accessdate=23 October 2020 |date=10 January 2019}}</ref>

In 2018, the [[Wellcome Collection]], a museum and library in London, made an announcement through [[Twitter]] using the term ''womxn'' to demonstrate their goal of including diverse perspectives; after complaints from hundreds of followers, the museum later apologized and removed the term from its website.<ref name="breenakerr" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-10-10 |title=Should women be spelt womxn? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45810709 |access-date=2024-12-01 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="jackguy">{{Cite news|last=Guy|first=Jack|date=27 November 2018|title=Women or 'womxn'? Students adopt inclusive language|work=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/27/uk/womxn-inclusive-language-gbr-scli-intl/index.html|access-date=23 June 2020}}</ref> [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] politician [[Jess Phillips]] responded to the incident by saying, "I've never met a trans woman who was offended by the word woman being used, so I'm not sure why this keeps happening".<ref name="alexregan" /> Clara Bradbury-Rance of [[King's College London]] conjectured that the push-back was because the use of the term was seen as too simplistic and a "fix-all".<ref name="alexregan" />

In a 2019 Styles article published in ''[[The New York Times]]'', journalist Breena Kerr stated that while ''womxn'' was difficult to pronounce, it was "perhaps the most inclusive word yet".<ref name="breenakerr" />

On March 1, 2021, the [[streaming platform]] [[Twitch (service)|Twitch]] used the term ''womxn'' to promote events celebrating [[Women's History Month]]. The event was announced through Twitter, which led to immediate backlash from various users who considered the term [[transphobic]] for implying that trans women are not ''women'' but a separate category (''womxn''). Twitch removed the tweet and apologised, stating that they wanted to use the word to acknowledge the shortcomings of gender-binary language and that they would use the term "women" moving forward.<ref name="BBCTwitch">{{cite web|date=March 2, 2021|title=Twitch backtracks after outcry for using 'gender neutral' term 'womxn'|work=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56251452 |access-date=March 2, 2021}}</ref><ref name="KelleherPN">{{cite web |last=Kelleher |first=Patrick |date=March 2, 2021 |title=Twitch apologises for using the word 'womxn': 'We're still learning' |url=https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/03/02/twitch-womxn-women-trans-twitter-backlash-transphobia-lgbt/ |access-date=March 2, 2021 |work=[[Pink News]]}}</ref>