Self-Defined
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+ A modern dictionary about us. We define our words, but they don't define us.
Self-Defined seeks to provide more inclusive, holistic, and fluid definitions to reflect the modern world.
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- Submit words and definitions through pull requests. +
- Sponsor this work through GitHub Sponsors. +
- Volunteer writing, design, dev help by DMing me @tatianatmac on Twitter. +
A-E
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- Ablelism +
- American +
- African +
- Asian +
- Black +
- Indigenous +
- Ambulatory Wheelchair +
- Ancestors +
- Anti-blackness +
- Anxiety disorders +
- aromantic +
- Asian +
- East +
- South +
- Southeast +
- asexual +
- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) +
- assigned at birth +
- Attraction +
- Aesthetic +
- Platonic +
- Sexual +
- Autism spectrum +
- Bias +
- bierasure +
- bipolar +
- Bisexual +
- Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) +
- Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) +
- Black +
- men (BM) +
- people (BP) +
- women (BW) +
- Brown +
- Bropropriating +
- Burka +
- Child of a Deaf Adult (CODA) +
- cisgender +
- Climate change +
- Colonial narrative +
- Colonialism +
- colorism +
- Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) +
- cultural appropriation +
- crazy +
- Demi +
- -boy +
- -girl +
- -romantic +
- -sexual +
- deaf and Deaf +
- Disability +
- disabled +
- discordant couples +
- Discrimination +
- Dominant culture +
- Dominant culture habits +
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) +
- Egalitarian +
- Empathy +
- enby +
- English as a Second Language (ESL) +
- Entitlement +
- Equality +
- Equity +
- Ethnicity +
F-L
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+
- Fem +
- Femme +
- Gaslighting +
- Gender +
- Cis +
- -Fluid +
- Non-conforming +
- Trans +
- Queer +
- Gender confirmation surgery (GCS) +
- Genocide +
- Governmentality +
- gray ace +
- Gray asexuality +
- Hard of Hearing (HOH) +
- hegemonic +
- Hermaphrodite +
- pseudo, male and female +
- High-Functioning +
- Hijab +
- Hispanic +
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) +
- Homophobia +
- hormone Replacement therapy (HRT) +
- Illness +
- Chronic +
- Immigrant +
- Impact +
- Implicit bias +
- Indigenous +
- Inherent +
- Intent +
- internalized oppression +
- Intersectionality +
- intersex +
- invisible disabilities +
- Jihad +
- Latinx +
M-S
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+
- Marginalized +
- Matriarchy +
- Medication sensitive +
- Militarization +
- Minorities +
- Minoritised +
- Misogynoir +
- Neurodivergent +
- Neurotypical +
- non binary +
- -Normative +
- cis +
- hetero +
- Oppression +
- Internalized +
- Other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED) +
- Panic attacks +
- Pansexual +
- -passing +
- female- +
- male- +
- white- +
- Parachuting +
- Patriarchy +
- Performative allyship +
- People of Color (PoC) +
- People with disabilities +
- -phile +
- andro +
- gyne +
- Platonic +
- Queer +
- Polyamory +
- Positivism +
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder +
- power +
- Poz +
- Prejudice +
- Pride +
- Pride, First (Anti-Police Riots) + +
- Prophylaxis +
- Pre-exposure (PreEP) +
- Post-exposure (PEP) +
- Privilege +
- Cis +
- Monosexual +
- White + +
- Race +
- Racial +
- Contract +
- Formation +
- State +
- Raciology +
- Racism +
- Racist +
- Savage +
- Savior +
- White +
- Semitic +
- Serodiscordant +
- settler +
- colonial mentality +
- Sexual +
- assault of a minor +
- orientation +
- Socially constructed +
- Solidarity +
- -Splaining +
- cis +
- man +
- white +
- Spirit animal +
- Systematic +
- Systemic +
T-Z
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+
- Top-down approach +
- Totemic animal +
- Tawhid +
- Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) +
- Trans +
- gender +
- man +
- masculine +
- phobia +
- woman +
- Tribe +
- Triggers +
- Two-spirited +
- Undetectable=Untransmittable (U=U) +
- Undetectable +
- Unqueer +
- Indigenous +
- Vertigo +
- Visual +
- Vestibular migraine +
- Violence against women and girls (VAWG) +
- Viral Load +
- White +
- feminism +
- fragility +
- -ness +
- supremacy +
- woman tears +
- people (WP) +
- women (WW) +
- White supremacist capitalist patriarchy +
- womanism +
- Women and people of colour +
+ avoid—Ableist slur +
+ ++ crazy + + noun + +
+ ++ mentally deranged; demented; insane. +
++ Issues +
+Crazy is very commonly used as an adjective to embody a vast array of ideas, often not specifically. It is used so frequently that it sometimes is a filler. Crazy can also be used in a derogatory manner for someone with mental or psychiatric disabilities.
++ Impact +
+By using ableist language, we are perpetuating violence against people who experience mental or psychological disabilities. Using it perpetuates those systems and language of harm, regardless of our intent.
++ Usage Tip +
++ Be more specific. Typically we can find an alternate definition by simply reflecting on what emotion we're really feeling. +
++ Alt Words +
++ + abundant, bizarre, enormous, ludicrous, outlandish, ridiculous, unbelievable, unexpected, unfamiliar, unreal, scary, shocking, strange, wicked +
++ avoid +
+ ++ minorities + + noun + +
+ ++ the smaller in number of two groups constituting a whole +
++ Issues +
+Minorities is not always accurate. As it deals with numbers, often the insinuation of racial minorities is inaccurate, as communities of colour often outnumber white communities.
++ Impact +
+By repeatedly referring to groups as "minorities," they are being infantised and made to feel minor.
++ Alt Words +
++ + minoritised, or omit +
++ Better Alternate +
+ ++ minoritised + + adj + +
+ ++ groups resulting from social constructs have grant less power or representation compared to other members or groups in society +
++ Benefits +
+Minoritised places the emphasis on the power struggle, and on the systemic issues at play. It's also an adjective, which requires you to add "group" or "people" so it's people-first language
++ Impact +
+It removes the pejorative nature of "minorities".
++ Alt Words +
++ + minorities, or omit +
+ ++ avoid +
+ ++ English as second language (ESL) + + noun + +
+ ++ the teaching of English to people who speak a different language and who live in a country where English is the main language spoken +
++ Issues +
+Monolinguist, English-only speakers often refer to people who don't speak English natively as "ESL" or say they are learning a "second language". More often than not, this is not true, as many people are multi-lingual with 3 or more languages
++ Impact +
+It makes false assumptions about English learners, centres English as the "default" or "expected" first language, ignoring that many people learn multiple (>3), non-English languages first.
++ Alt Words +
++ + English as learning-language (ELL), or non-native, or omit (because do you really know, for sure?) +
+ ++ avoid +
+ ++ women and people of colour + + noun + +
+ ++ often used as a phrase to encompass "non-white, non-men," seeking to provide solidarity for these two groups +
++ Issues +
+What happens to women of colour? As a woman of colour, I am split between both women and people of colour.
++ Impact +
+As such, it elicits feelings of erasure for women of colour. It also neglects non-binary individuals.
++ Alt Words +
++ + people of colour and white women or people of colour, white non-binary people, and white women, find ways to reframe why this dynamic exists, or omit
+F-L
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- Fem +
- Femme +
- Gaslighting
- Gender
- Cis
- -Fluid +
- Non-conforming
- Trans
- Queer
- Gender confirmation surgery (GCS) -
- genderqueer
- Genocide
- Governmentality
- gray ace @@ -203,6 +204,7 @@
- Raciology
- Racism
- Racist +
- Savage
- Savior
- White
- Semitic