Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language

by Amanda Montell

And gently advising women to stop using discourse markers and vocal fry so they can sound more “articulate”—no matter how well intentioned—is not helpful either. In 2016 I was offered a promo code to test out a new voice-recognition app designed to help young people practice talking without filler phrases like you know and like, so they could sound more “authoritative.” But dressing up this advice as empowering is as shady as telling a woman that wearing a longer hemline will make her worthier of success. It’s a way of punishing women for their own oppression. One of our culture’s least helpful pieces of advice is that women need to change the way they speak to sound less “like women” (or that queer people need to sound straighter, or that people of color need to sound whiter).