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Herstory is a term for history written from a Feminism perspective and emphasizing the role of women, or told from a woman's point of view. It originated as an alteration of the word "history", as part of a feminist critique of conventional historiography, which in their opinion is traditionally written as "his story", i.e., from the male point of view. The term is a neologism and a deliberate Word play; the word "history"—via Latin historia from the Ancient Greek word ἱστορία, a noun meaning 'knowledge obtained by inquiry' Etymology of the word "history"—is etymologically unrelated to the possessive Personal pronoun his.Jane Mills, "Womanwords: a dictionary of words about women", 1992, , p. 118.
The fluidity and wit of the witches is evident in the ever-changing acronym: the basic, original title was Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell ... and the latest heard at this writing is Women Inspired to Commit Herstory.“Dry Your Smile”, by Robin Morgan, Ms.
During the 1970s and 1980s, second-wave feminists saw the study of history as a male-dominated intellectual enterprise and presented "herstory" as a means of compensation.Devoney Looser, British Women Writers and the Writing of History (Johns Hopkins University Press: 2000). . The term, intended to be both serious and comic,Angus Calder and Lizbeth Goodman, "Gender and Poetry", in Literature and Gender, ed. by Lizbeth Goodman (Routledge: 1996). . became a rallying cry used on T-shirts and buttons as well as in academia.
In 2017, Hridith Sudev, an inventor, environmentalist and social activist associated with various youth movements, launched 'The Herstory Movement,' an online platform to "celebrate lesser known great persons; female, queer or otherwise marginalized, who helped shape the modern World History." It is intended as an academic platform to feature stories of female historic persons and thus help facilitate more widespread knowledge about 'Great Women' History.
Non-profit organizations Global G.L.O.W and LitWorld created a joint initiative called the "HerStory Campaign". This campaign works with 25 other countries to share girl's lives and stories. They encourage others to join the campaign and to "raise our voices on behalf of all world's girls".
The herstory movement has spawned women-centered presses, such as Virago Press in 1973, which publishes fiction and non-fiction by noted women authors like Janet Frame and Sarah Dunant.
This movement has led to an increase in activity in other female-centric disciplines such as femistry and galgebra. (1976). 9780385048583, Bantam Doubleday Dell. ISBN 9780385048583
Professor and author Devoney Looser has criticized the concept of herstory for overlooking the contributions that some women made as historians before the twentieth century. Author Richard Dawkins also described his criticism in The God Delusion, arguing that "the word history has not been influenced by the male pronoun". Critics also highlight that herstory, while aiming to prioritize women’s narratives, sometimes excludes non-Western perspectives, pointing out the importance of reconstructing feminist genealogies from a southern perspective, advocating for inclusivity in representing subaltern women’s histories and experiences.
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