By Noel S. Williams

Dictionary publishers are already presenting their 2023 Word of the Year choices. Collins Dictionary chose “A.I.,” which is not really a word as much as a pair of initials. There’s an array of peculiar contrivances in the Left’s woke vocabulary, but how about something more straightforward? How about “woman,” in all her lovely glory, for 2023 WOTY?

Not “biological woman,” which implies the existence of other forms. Just “woman,” proudly promoting her natural splendor.

Collins’s definitions for “woman” and “female” are curiously circular and not particularly descriptive. For woman: “an adult female human being.” Yet its definition of “female” is “someone who is female is a woman or a girl.”

However, there have been heterodoxical definitions recently proffered, such as these curiosities: “womb-carrier,” “birthing person,” and “uterus-bearer.” Other gender-neutral alternatives are touted by fake feminists who spent too much time worrying their little minds in easy-peasy Gender Studies rather than doing something useful for society by pursuing STEM curricula. Or getting their hands dirty in a trade school, where there’d be little time or patience for such linguistic gymnastics.

They are fake feminists partly because their contemptible concoctions undermine and ridicule the wonderful femininity of traditional women. Some screechy Women’s Studies aficionados (who’ll likely complain about the paucity of women in STEM fields) still want to remove the suffix “man” from “woman.” They have even formulated a word that defies commonsense: “womxn.”

Tossed about by intersectional feminists, it not only attempts to assert female independence from proven patriarchal systems, but it supposedly includes transgender women. They even indulge in interminable discussions on how to pronounce it.

Perhaps those fake feminists (contrasted to the lovely conservative ones) would benefit from some stern mansplaining, for it is simply foolhardy to take “men” out of women. For both of the two genders, interdependence and mutual respect are essential for mental and emotional well-being. No wonder they’re half-barmy.

Besides, at the risk of being cisheteropatriarchal, the Bible promulgates that woman was made from the rib of man. Therefore, it is inconceivable for those who aren’t barmy to remove “men” from “women.”

Now, while the number of Americans who say the Bible is the literal word of God is down to about 20% (which may be underreported), that’s still a large number of God-fearing patriots, in absolute figures. By contrast, a far lesser percentage of Americans identify as transgender. Fewer still identify as womxn. It’s probably wise to go with God (and nature) over irreverent intersectional feminist things. Glory be!

That’s not what Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame is doing. The all-girls college will begin allowing men who identify as women to enroll in the fall of 2024. President Katie Conboy expressed, “Saint Mary’s will consider undergraduate applicants whose sex assigned at birth is female or who consistently live and identify as women.” Blimey, they’re Catholic!

Consternation over what constitutes a woman is insidiously infecting our frayed society. Many are afraid that the fairer sex is being inexorably erased by gender-neutral, nonbinary mania under the egregious aegis of soul-destroying DEI.

The Sundance Kid, of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, had some disreputable characteristics, but he also had a way with the lovely ladies. He iterated an interesting array of attributes for his ideal woman: “smart, pretty, and sweet, and gentle, and tender, and refined, and lovely, and carefree…”

Most of those qualities are enduring, though it’s increasingly difficult to be carefree under the leftist linguistic lunacy. Overall, today’s conservative women are more likely to exhibit the wholesomeness Sundance sought, especially the “smart” part. Unfortunately, those traits are not cultivated by woke womanism, as represented, for example, by the Womxn Center at the University of California at Irvine.

That leftist terminology trickery obscures such a familiar noun as “woman” only emphasizes its worthiness as the 2023 WOTY — before it’s mangled like the pronouns. After all, the Left’s language manipulation soon metastasizes into mind control wherein conscientious people are canceled for not adopting the latest brand of the word “wokeism.” Organizations that wield unconscionable power like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission would even make “misgendering” a thought crime.

There has been an inexorable rise in the participation rate of women in the workforce. Nevertheless, they tend to prioritize work-life balance in their careers. That’s partly because they have deeper nurturing proclivities and are generally cuddlier, all too keen to let their biological instincts flourish while keeping home and hearth warm and cozy. Perhaps even tend to our desires, if we’re as lucky as Sundance.

Don’t erase those strong, smart, lovely, and wholesome women. Embrace them. Actually, celebrate them with WOTY status.