Self-Defined
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 the diverse perspectives of the modern world.
With the foundation of vocabulary, we can begin to understand lived experiences of people different than us. Words can provide us with a sense of identify and allow us to find kinship through common experiences.
Ways to help
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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?)
White Supremacy Tool
white fragility noun
the tendency for dominant white culture to respond to racism with defensive, dismissive, and angry responses; "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves." (Robin DiAngelo).
Impact
White fragility detracts from critical conversations about the systemic oppressors at play. The cost of white fragility is that it centres the feelings of white people while ignoring and invalidating the systemic harm conducted towards people of colour. White fragility also prevents white people from doing anti-racist work to unpack their socially internalised racism.
Further Reading
- White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo;
- White Fragility tag, The Root.
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? Women of colour are conceptually split between their identies as both women and as people of colour.
Impact
The term can elicit feelings of erasure for women of colour. It also neglects non-binary individuals.
Usage Tips
Before determining which term to use, consider the purpose of identifying this aggregate group of people. If you mean "women" and are including "non-binary people" without taking actions to truly include them, then you should reconsider your usage.
Alt Words
minoritised genders; people of minoritised genders; people of colour and white women; people of colour, white non-binary people, and white women; or omit