Welcome to WTF: The Other F Word Podcast.
Hosted by Dra. Leslie C. Sotomayor II and Dr. Katy Ballard, we just dropped a new episdoe, A Note on Language: Naming Feminism with Dani Cervantes. Listen to episode #4.
WTF makes room for feminism and the many other “F words” that shape our lives: femtorship, family, friendship, failure, flourishing, fugitivity, feeling, and freedom. Feminism is not a fixed word. It carries histories, tensions, exclusions, possibilities, and invitations. For some, it names a life-giving practice. For others, it brings up harm, distance, or a sense of not belonging. For many of us, it is a word we keep returning to, stretching, questioning, and remaking in community.
In episode #4, Leslie and Katy are joined by VIP guest Dani Cervantes for a conversation about feminism and other words: the words we inherit, the words we resist, the words that fail us, and the words we reach for when we are trying to build something more honest and more caring.
Why language matters
Language reflects culture.
It reflects values.
It reflects who has power, who is visible, and who gets to name themselves.
The words we choose can help people feel recognized, respected, and included. They can also carry histories of harm, exclusion, and contradiction. That is why this conversation matters.
These words shape how we understand ourselves and each other. They show up in our classrooms, our scholarship, our communities, our creative practices, and our relationships. But what do we actually mean when we say them?
And just as importantly: who feels included in these words, and who does not?
Words we are unpacking
In episode 4, we linger with terms that carry histories, tensions, identities, and contradictions.
Words like:
- Feminist
- Patriarchy
- BIPOC
- Queer
- Latina, Latino, Latinx, and Latine
Each of these words carries both intention and impact.
Feminist can signal liberation and resistance, but it can also feel exclusionary depending on whose feminism is being centered.
BIPOC is often used to build solidarity, but it can also flatten very different histories and lived experiences.
Patriarchy is a term we use often, but not always with clarity. It is not just about men. It is about systems, structures, and inherited ways of organizing power.
Queer is a word that has been reclaimed by many, while still holding different meanings depending on generation, geography, and lived experience.
Latina, Latino, Latinx, and Latine continue to evolve. Each version holds different relationships to language, gender, culture, accessibility, and community use. Some people feel affirmed by Latinx or Latine. Others feel disconnected from those terms.
That tension raises important questions about who shapes language, how it circulates, and what happens when words move between academic spaces and everyday community life.
An invitation to stay open
This episode is not only about definitions.
It is about relationships: to words, to histories, to ourselves, and to each other.
It asks us to think about responsibility.
How do we use language with care?
How do we remain open to being challenged or corrected?
How do we let language be something we revisit, rather than something we fix?
A decolonial practice of language asks us to notice power, context, history, and relationship. It asks how we can create spaces where people do not have to translate away their complexity in order to be welcomed.
To belong does not mean to become the same.
And to define a word does not mean we are finished learning from it.
As you listen, consider
What is your relationship to the word feminism?
When has language helped you feel a sense of belonging?
When has language created distance, harm, or exclusion?
What “other F words” are central to your life, work, art, or community?
Who has femtored you, formally or informally?
What words are you trying to unlearn?
What words are you trying to reclaim?
What kind of language do you need for the world you are trying to build?
Let’s begin
Listen to episode #4 when you have space to sit with it.
Let the conversation move at the pace it needs.
Notice what words stay with you.
Then reply and tell us: what is one word you are carrying, questioning, or remaking right now?
We would love to hear from you.
Thank you for being here with us.
Let’s begin.
Leslie + Katy
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