Until recently, Merriam-Webster defined the word "female" as "of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs," and "having some quality associated with the female sex." But the latter meaning has been rewritten to read, "Having a gender identity that is opposite of male."
Talk host Richard Randall says up until now, Americans have been browbeaten into using the woke version.
"We're afraid that we'll be thought to be guilty, or we'll even consider ourselves to be guilty of being transphobic or homophobic or racist if we don't do that," he says.
But with the official definition change, anyone who does not comply with the woke terminology is now officially wrong. Randall says the tail is definitely wagging the dog.
"What we're talking about on most of these cultural issues are minorities, and in most cases super minorities -- they're very, very small numbers, but they've been able to convince a significant number of people, including people of power and influence, that these things need to be changed," radio host observes.
He says the way society defines a term has a major influence on who wins the battle for that idea. For example, disagreeing with homosexual marriage may be understandable, but only a bigot would have a problem with "marriage equality" or "gender-affirming care."
"We didn't even tap the brakes at crazy," Randall laments. "They stomped on the gas pedal, and they're taking us off of some sort of a cultural cliff."
He says not having a common definition for words untethers the culture from reality.
