Glossary

Ableism - Acts or beliefs that devalue or discriminate against people with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities. In a capitalist economy where your value is in direct relation to how much profit you can create for your boss, those who cannot work according to demand are deemed disposable.

Binary - Relating to or involving two things. Often used in feminist discussions to refer to the limiting belief that there are two discrete genders which are discrete, i.e. the ‘gender binary’. Reducing everything to binaries necessarily devalues anything that lies outside those two categories. For example, trans and intersex people do not fit within the gender binary and this basis are discriminated against.

BIPOC - ‘Black, Indigenous and People of Colour’. This term exists to emphasise the unique struggles of Black and Indigenous people. The umbrella term ‘People of Colour’ can overshadow the importance of their fights.

Capitalism - Our current socio-economic system which is based on the exchange of commodities and on the exploitation of wage labour for profit. Different countries and businesses compete against one another for profits and expansion. It dictates how society is organised.

Cis/Cisgender - someone whose personal sense of gender corresponds with their assigned sex at birth.

Colonial - Relating to the invasion, violation and ongoing control of lands and the societies inhabiting them. customer service roles. Also often used to refer to the burden of being expected to provide unreciprocated emotional support because women are stereotyped as nurturing.

Enterprise Bargaining Period - Australia has very strict strike laws, meaning workers can only go on strike during their Enterprise Bargaining period. This can occur every couple of years, depending on what industry. This is when workers can negotiate their contracts and fight for better conditions and wages.

Gaslight - A form of deliberate psychological abuse where the perpetrator manipulates someone into doubting their own sanity, in order to gain control. Often misued in internet culture to refer to normal interpersonal conflicts and disagreements.

Gendered Labour - The way work is divided between men and women according to gender is usually referred to as the ‘gendered division of labour’. This concerns not only paid work but also the work and responsibilities assigned to people in their daily roles, including in the home as well as in organising or activist spaces.

Heteronormative - Relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation.

Internalised Sexism - When the belief in women’s inferiority becomes part of one’s own worldview and conceptualisation of themselves and others.

Intersectionality - The interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class and gender, creating overlapping and interdependent systems of oppression. A framework that sees all oppressions as linked

Glossary

and how this means we all have an interest in fighting for the rights of all minorities.

Misogyny - Dislike, contempt, or ingrained prejudice towards women.

Non-Binary - An umbrella term for people who do not identify as female/male or woman/man.

NTEU - National Tertiary Education Union. Australia’s union for tertiary education workers, including staff at universities. The NTEU fights for better wages and conditions for staff against university management. In Enterprise Bargaining periods they can take industrial action including strikes to win their demands.

Patriarchy - A system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it. A framework that sees how society is seen through the eyes of men.

Rape Culture - A society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalising or trivialising sexual assault and abuse.

Socialism - a broad socio-economic model wherein workers control the means of production and class distinctions are abolished. Instead of society being organised so that a minority have control over the profits and resources, socialism would share those things equally. There would be no profit incentive for businesses, instead the incentive would be to care for all people and living things. does not align with SWERFs.

TERF - Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. This brand of feminism is gender essentialist and sees gender as a fixed binary and not something that is fluid and socialised. WOCO supports and welcomes trans people and does not align with TERFs.

Transmisogyny - A combination of transphobia and misogyny, manifesting as discrimination against ‘trans women and gender non-conforming people on the feminine end of the gender spectrum’.

TW/CW - Trigger Warning / Content Warning.

Unions - Mass organisations of the working class which aim to achieve the demands of their members and have been responsible for many historic wins. Usually each sector (eg. retail, education) has a union of its own that workers of the sector can choose to join.

White Feminism - A brand of feminist centred around the ideals and struggles of primarily white women. White Feminism has historically left BIPOC behind, selling them out for seats at the table and joining their oppressors.

Working class - The Marxist term referring to the economic class which lives off the sale of its labour power - i.e. from doing wagelabour. The common definition is to see the working class as blue collar workers such as a builder. The Marxist definition is to see anyone who has to go to work for a wage as part of the working class. All workers are exploited as they receive a wage according to the time they work and not according to the profits they produce.