The dictionary definition of 'woman' could be set to change after 30,000 people signed a petition calling for an end to sexism.
Oxford University Press says it will now consider changing the definition thanks to the petition set up by PR consultant Maria Beatrice Giovanardi.
Maria decided to take action after seeing the OUP listed a number of synonyms for woman - including b***h, bit, mare, baggage, wench, bird, bint, biddy and filly.
And she says sentences put forward by OUP as examples of when and how to use the word woman included: "Ms September will embody the professional, intelligent yet sexy career woman", "male fisherfolk who take their catch home for the little woman to gut " and "I told you to be home when I get home, little woman".
The definitions were used by Google, from the OUP, and the search engine has since updated its results.
The petition reads: "These examples show women as sex objects, subordinate, and/or an irritation to men.
"As well as all this, the definition of a 'man' is much more exhaustive than that of a 'woman' - with 25 examples for men, compared to only 5 for women.
"This is completely unacceptable by a reputable source like the Oxford University Press, but it's even more worrying when you consider how much influence they have in setting norms around our language.
"These misogynistic definitions have become widespread because search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo license the use of Oxford Dictionaries for their definitions.
"Over a third of young women aged between 18 to 24 have been targeted by online abuse.
"We can take a serious step towards reducing the harm this is causing our young women and girls by looking at our language - and this starts with the dictionary.'"
An Oxford University Press spokesman said: "As ever, we appreciate feedback and comment on our lexical content but it's worth reiterating that our dictionaries reflect rather than dictate how language is used which means that we include terms that are often considered pejorative or have negative historical associations.'"
Head of lexical content strategy Katherine Martin said in a blog post: "Oxford University Press (OUP) publishes many different dictionaries, and we welcome input from members of the public to inform their ongoing revision.
"A recent public petition has expressed concerns about the treatment of the word woman in one of our dictionaries; the petition raises some useful points for consideration, but it also presents an opportunity for us to provide some context about the methods of lexicography.
"Often—and this case is no exception—there is a nuance to how words are defined and presented in our dictionaries, which is important to take into account."
She added: "Because our dictionary is based on evidence of actual usage, entries for two different words will only be perfectly parallel if the words are genuinely used in a perfectly parallel way.
"Our editors are investigating whether there are senses of woman which are not currently covered but should be added in a future update."
Ms Giovanardi told The Bookseller: "They haven't responded to why more than half of the synonyms under 'woman' are offensive (and dated) terms.
"Sexism, just like racism, and any oppressive ways of talking, should have no place in society, and of course, texts like the dictionary."
