There is a
tendency to
poke fun at concepts and opinions that one either doesn't agree with or doesn't understand. This does not just occur on
Everything, it occurs every day in real life.
Some women (mostly feminists, though not all feminists agree with this) find that the modern day application of the word woman causes a woman to be definined by her "not man" status. The use of the wo- before the man indicates a fundamental difference of the female sex from the male (the same is true of female/male, obviously), and causes women to be defined, first and foremost, by the their not-male sex.
There is a strong tradition in any movement that is trying to transform our reality of changing language. Semantics and the rules of discourse are fundamental tenets of the status quo. To be able to change the world, we have to change the way we think of it and, to do that, we have to have new words and phrases to express these thoughts of change.
"Womyn" are trying to do exactly that. When I say that, I don't mean the 13-year olds who put "Grrl Power" (although the Riot Grrl movement has a different spin and, if the phrase is meant that way, I have no expertise on the subject) or "Womyn rule" on their homepages. No, they very likely don't understand that they are trying to participate in a movement to change the world. But many others do understand (and, let's not forget, these girls could easily learn) that the words they use, the way that they speak has a profound effect on how we think about certain things.
You may or may not believe that this focus is justified ... you may think that the women who try to define themselves in a different way are ridiculous.
But there is a real reason for this change. If you don't agree with it ... fine ... but try to understand it.