liberated

[Fred Shapiro]

On Sat, 24 Feb 2007, Laurence Horn wrote:

> Neither "Women's Lib" nor "Women's Libbers" were invented by
> feminists, as I recall.  They were used by those dismissive of or
> resistant to the women's movement.

I discuss the political usage of "liberation," "liberated," "lib" and
"libber" in my article, "Historical Notes on the Vocabulary of the Women's
Movement," American Speech 60 [1985]: 3-16.  Larry's comments above are
accurate.

"Lib" was a characteristically flip and politically conservative-leaning
coinage of Time Magazine.

Fred


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