handmaiden

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English

Etymology

From Middle English hande mayden, handmaiden, hand mayden, hand-mayden, handmayden, hondemaiden, hond maydyn, hoondmaydyn; equivalent to hand +‎ maiden, the first component in the sense of "ready at hand".
(feminist woman who supports transgender rights): An allusion to Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.

Noun

handmaiden (plural handmaidens)

Alternative form of handmaid.
(gender-critical, derogatory) A feminist woman who supports transgender rights.
- 2020 July 22, Julie Bindel, “Trans activists risk falling for misogyny”, in The Spectator:
  The fact that it is not possible to be seen as a supporter of trans people's human rights, as all feminists are or at least should be, unless we fully capitulate and take the metaphorical – and sometimes literal – boot in the face shows how extreme trans activists, enabled by their handmaiden allies, are nothing but a misogynistic men’s rights movement.
- 2021 November 10, Rebecca Chandler (@RachelWilde13), Twitter‎:
  Solidarity with trans people but not women[,] I note[,] Angela. Especially the boring ones who fought for rights that you now enjoy. Enjoy being a handmaiden.
- 2022 February 4, Marie Le Conte, “Feminism has been reduced to the transgender debate”, in The New Statesman:
  I have been called a handmaiden, a “pick me” girl, and been accused of vying for male attention.
- For more quotations using this term, see Citations:handmaiden.

Derived terms

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