rfmcdonald | [LINK] "Women named Isis face backlash over Islamic State acronym" (Reply)

CBC's Meagan Fitzpatrick writes about the concern of women called Isis that their name is being tarnished, literally, by association with the violent Islamic State. While I generally agree with the argument that the association between the name and the pseudo-state's acronym is tenuous, I do have to wonder if this really needs to be an issue.

Women named Isis say they are experiencing a backlash because of the acronym ISIS that is widely used to refer to the jihadist group, and they are pleading with media outlets to stop using it.

They have launched a campaign to share what they are going through and to pressure media to switch from ISIS, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, to ISIL, which stands for Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The organization itself is using the name Islamic State, but that has not been adopted by most Western media organizations, including the CBC, which refers to the group as ISIS.

What to call the group and how to translate its Arabic name into English have been matters of debate.

What is not in doubt is that women named Isis now have a name associated with militants responsible for enslaving women and grotesque acts of violence, including the beheadings of American journalists and British aid workers.

At the forefront of the "Save Our Name" campaign is a Miami woman named Isis Martinez. In a YouTube video she says that the last few weeks have been "incredibly challenging."

"My name is Isis, I love my name. Or so, I loved it a lot more before," she says.