womanism
noun
wom·an·ism
ˈwu̇-mə-ˌni-zəm 
: a form of feminism focused especially on the conditions and concerns of Black women
Examples of womanism in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Barbie’s debut was also a sign of game-changing conversations, books and periodicals (like 1963’s The Feminine Mystique and Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine), and movements (from second-wave feminism to womanism) that fueled professional and political progress for women in America.
—
Maressa Brown, Parents, 25 July 2023
Additional topics that no longer appear in the final AP course materials include reparations and ideas proposed by contemporary theorists, such as womanism — a movement that focuses on the Black, female experience first coined by Alice Walker in 1979.
—Dallas News, 21 Feb. 2023
For example, Alice Walker creating womanism, a term specific for Black women.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Dec. 2021
However, Gates could have turned to other scholarly resources, including the canon of womanism in religious studies and other classic texts in the field of Black Church studies that would have truly opened the floodgates of the Black Church tradition.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2021
Writer and activist reflects on freedom, Black feminism/womanism and writing in community.
—San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2021
In response, some black feminists decamped from feminism to create womanism.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 1 June 2018
Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and Kimberlé Crenshaw couldn’t create terms like Black feminism, womanism, and intersectionality to spread the word about our struggle without that knowledge.
—refinery29.com, 8 Mar. 2018
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Maressa Brown, Parents, 25 July 2023
Additional topics that no longer appear in the final AP course materials include reparations and ideas proposed by contemporary theorists, such as womanism — a movement that focuses on the Black, female experience first coined by Alice Walker in 1979.
—Dallas News, 21 Feb. 2023
For example, Alice Walker creating womanism, a term specific for Black women.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Dec. 2021
However, Gates could have turned to other scholarly resources, including the canon of womanism in religious studies and other classic texts in the field of Black Church studies that would have truly opened the floodgates of the Black Church tradition.
—Washington Post, 25 Feb. 2021
Writer and activist reflects on freedom, Black feminism/womanism and writing in community.
—San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2021
In response, some black feminists decamped from feminism to create womanism.
—Constance Grady, Vox, 1 June 2018
Audre Lorde, Alice Walker, and Kimberlé Crenshaw couldn’t create terms like Black feminism, womanism, and intersectionality to spread the word about our struggle without that knowledge.
—refinery29.com, 8 Mar. 2018
Cite this Entry
“Womanism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/womanism. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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