herstory
English
editEtymology
editWordplay: blend of her + history, derived as though the first syllable in history were his, the male pronoun.
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhɜːst(ə)ɹi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɝst(ə)ɹi/
Noun
editherstory (countable and uncountable, plural herstories)
- (nonstandard) History that emphasizes the role of women, or that is told from a woman's (or from a feminist) point of view.
- 1984 April 21, Pam Gordon, “'There's Always Cost': Ferron's Boston Concert”, in Gay Community News, page 17:
- "Mama's Lullaby" shared the growth of McCord's appreciation for her mother and a prayer that her infant son might someday "sing this motther song with me"; a blending of the strong herstory of women's survival with the hope that men of the future will learn to praise their own capacity for nurturance.
- (feminism) Any historical writing by or about women.
- Biographical material about a woman.
- 1989, “Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, "1969 Mother Stonewall and the Golden Rats"”, in The Stonewall Reader, Penguin Classics, published 2019, →ISBN, page 107:
- Nobody thought of it as history, herstory, my-story, your-story, or our-story.
See also
editReferences
edit- John A. Simpson and Edmund S. C. Weiner, editors (1989), “herstory”, in The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN.