​TIME Apologizes for Including "Feminist" on List of Words to Ban

Last week, Time magazine held their fourth annual word banishment poll, in which readers can vote for the word they would like to remove from our modern lexicon. They decided to include the word “feminist” possibly as a critique of how ubiquitous and relevant the word has become (as if that’s a bad thing?), a move which drew plenty of ire. Of course, it was also the perfect bait for trolling, and how the trolls trolled.

As a result, Time’s managing editor Nancy Gibbs has issued an apology, which now precedes the poll itself:

TIME apologizes for the execution of this poll; the word ‘feminist’ should not have been included in a list of words to ban. While we meant to invite debate about some ways the word was used this year, that nuance was lost, and we regret that its inclusion has become a distraction from the important debate over equality and justice.

–Nancy Gibbs

Meanwhile, I can’t seem to find “OBOLA” on this list of words to ban. Hmm.

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