Am I a Shero?
Being recognized for what we do for others
Being a Shero.
The English language does not use masculine and feminine forms of nouns often. We leave that up to French, Italian, and other languages. But sometimes, we do have male and feminine nouns.
Heroine is the feminine form of the masculine word hero as clearly stated by Oxford Languages:
- heroine: a woman admired or idealized for her courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
We do not say hero is the masculine word of the feminine word heroine. Oxford's definition of hero includes the following:
- hero: a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
This is why the noun shero was born during the suffragette movement. The earliest documented use was in 1836, and it was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary in 2008.
Classifying what makes a shero is as interesting as the word itself. Does a shero have the same attributes of a hero, or is a shero given more feminine attributes?
If you shut your eyes and think of women who are brave, courageous, compassionate, and groundbreakers, who do you think of? It may be personal, like your mother, female coworkers, friends, or community…
