It is not unusual that ideas pitched by women are completely ignored until a man repeats or tweaks their ideas–and gets the credit for it. Women across age groups have, at one point, experienced such instances at home, in school, or in the workplace. And there has not been a term for it–until now.
Hepeated, the new term that gained traction after Nicole Gugliucci, a social advocate, professor, and astronomer, posted this on Twitter:
My friends coined a word: hepeated. For when a woman suggests an idea and it's ignored, but then a guy says same thing and everyone loves it
— Nicole Gugliucci probably isn't here (@NoisyAstronomer) September 22, 2017
And explained how it is used:
Usage: "Ugh, I got hepeated in that meeting again." Or, "He totally hepeated me!"
— Nicole Gugliucci probably isn't here (@NoisyAstronomer) September 22, 2017
Though the word “hepeated” is in the same level as “mansplaining,” they are different from each other. Mansplaining is when a man explains something to a woman in a condescending or patronizing manner, whereas hepeated is when a man repeats a woman’s idea and is applauded for it.
Gugliucci didn’t expect her post to go viral, but she was grateful that Twitter has become a platform for people to share their stories. Many women have actually experienced the same thing and joined the conversation.
I'm trans & it took less than a month after I came out for this to happen to me at work.
— 🚀🐝Rocket🐝Bees🐝🚀 (@OrdQuelu) September 23, 2017
— Esther Choo, MD MPH (@choo_ek) September 22, 2017
I often "helay" ideas – whisper an idea to a male colleague for him to suggest so that it receives proper consideration.
— Erin O'Brien (@erinogirl123) September 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/Dr_Subtilis/status/911314573491392515
or he tells it back to you in different words, and has no memory of you espousing the same idea
— virginia hair (@virginiahair1) September 22, 2017
Does this word hepeated work when a guy rephrases what you said back to you so that you agree with him rather than him agreeing with you?
— Amanda Katona (@amanda_katona) September 22, 2017
I was gonna tag friends who experienced this, but realized – it's all the women. #hepeated #yesallwomen https://t.co/dtFRhcKCPm
— (((NeverKathy))) (she/her) (@kathleendwarner) September 22, 2017
In a span of just a few days, her post had over 65K retweets, 200K likes. It’s also since been added to the Urban Dictionary:
