Season of the Witch

"Witch."
"Hag."
"Crone."
"Slut."
"Feminist."

There is alchemy within these words
If language can be sued to suppress dissent against arbitrary and abusive authority--and to name and vilify outsiders--then perverting and reclaiming language can be used to challende those very systems of oppression. You can't take words out of the mouths of oppressors, but you can subvert the intended meaning of their words...and reappropriating language with a dedicated ethic can create change.

--from "Witches, Sluts, Feminists" by Kristen J. Sollee