Luis Torres: Challenger of Merriam-Webster’s Exclusive Definition of the Word Nude

Over the summer, Luis Torres, a sophomore at Ithaca College, began working at DoSomething.org as an intern on the campaign team. While he was there, he noticed Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word nude only referred to people of white skin color and, after realizing that the definition didn’t include those of other skin tones, decided to change that. So, after creating a petition online, he was able to challenge the well-known dictionary to re-think their definition of the word “nude.” 

How did you become inspired to start this campaign?:

“I was an in intern at DoSomething.org this summer on the campaign team, so it was a part of my job description to work on campaigns. So, I was already kind of thinking about what I could get done. And on the way down to work one day, I was reading an essay by Audre Lord. In the beginning, she starts talking about microaggressions and how Band-Aids being only the color of white people’s skin is a form of a microaggression. From there, I started doing research around nude fashion and I came across a change.org petition against the definition of the word “nude.” It only had twenty something signatures, so I thought it would be really cool to re-shape the regular online petition to become more interactive and actually try to get them to change it.”

Were you surprised at all by how much positive feedback you have received?:

“Yeah, [the feedback] was definitely overwhelmingly positive, which is always a good thing. There are several negative articles out there, but who cares? I was actually more surprised by the negative feedback where people were like saying, ‘It doesn’t matter, you’re just whining. You are distracting from the real issues.’ So, I think that was the more shocking thing to see.”

What do you have to say about people who think you might be trying to be too politically correct in your efforts?:

“I think people are really opposed to the political correctness thing right now. I think it’s silly that people feel threatened the minute somebody feels offended by something. Maybe the dictionary definition isn’t the largest issue in the world, but I think just looking at all the articles that have been written, it’s definitely bringing into question a lot of other things. So, I look at it less as an endpoint and more as a spark to creating more dialogue and more action around the specific issues of Eurocentric beauty ideals in our country and how we can combat ‘white’ being the idealized, normal thing.”

Through your research, did any other definitions of the word ‘nude’ stand out to you in any way?:

“It was specifically Merriam-Webster who had that definition and that is why we targeted them. All other dictionaries describe it as a color, but how they define it varies. Some will say nude ranges in color from nude to dark brown. Others will say beige, which is problematic still, but it was the explicit white people’s skin that made it seem less conclusive.”

In retrospect, are you happy with how they re-worded the definition?:

“I’m not unhappy with the change. I think it is definitely an improvement. They still mention color, which I don’t love, but they do include an article quoting that matches the word ‘skin tone, and that’s when they write in parenthesis the skin color thing. I mean if you’re looking at it, technically no one is black, so saying, like a dark tan, I guess it can kind of cover all of the skin colors. So, I wouldn’t say I’m not happy with it. I would say if they would have just used the word brown, I think that would have been a better word choice than tan, but also you don’t want to be super nick-picky. Like it was a win. They took out the definition that we found problematic and they replaced it with one that is a lot better. So, I think overall, I am happy.”

Was working on this campaign a team effort?:

“I was backed by DoSomething.org in that their editor edited what I wrote, their social media team posted it on social media and they did all of the media arrangements. But I was the one who created the campaign. I created the connect, their media team created the cover photo, which features a woman of color. They created a lot more of the decorative stuff, but I did all of the content and creation.”

So it seems like social media played a role in getting your campaign out there and to get seen:

“It was an online social media petition in many ways. Merriam-Webster’s page has a comments section and that’s where we asked our members to go. We asked our members to go on their page and leave comments that we had pre-written for them. So, social media was definitely a large part of it, and I definitely wouldn’t have gotten as much attention as I did if it wasn’t a DoSomething campaign, because they have four million members. So that backing definitely is why I thought I would be able to do something like this. But as far as the organic growth- most of the hits that we got came from members just coming to our website. So it wasn’t necessarily, like I don’t feel a lot of people just saw it on social media. It didn’t really get the hype that it has now until, I would say a couple weeks ago, and by then Merriam-Webster had already changed their definition.”

Do you think you would continue working with DoSomething.org in the future?:

“Totally! Yea, I mean I really loved the DoSomething office. I’m thinking about interning there again next summer, so that is definitely a possibility. As far as working there full-time, I’m not sure if that’s the road I want to go down. Not because of DoSomething as an organization, but just because I want to go to law school, so it’s a very different career path. But it’s definitely something I am super interested in, and I think it is a great organization and I would love to still be active with DoSomething as an organization in the future.”