Did you hear about the WAGs who stole the spotlight? Or the angry grandma who went viral? Or the domestic dispute that tragically turned deadly?
This is what’s noteworthy in PR this week: The language we use and the power it quietly holds.
A recent interview with Erin Holland has reignited debate about the term ‘WAG’, an acronym for the wives and girlfriends of professional athletes. She has spoken openly about how the label is often used in a derogatory way, not as a neutral description, but as a shorthand that, in her words, ‘quantifies your existence’.
Erin is an accomplished sports presenter with a long career of her own, yet she describes being ‘slapped’ with this title and never quite shaking it, regardless of how long she has worked or what she has achieved. The label follows her beyond sport and beyond context, becoming a proxy for who she is rather than a small part of her life.
The pushback has been predictable. Some people say this is the woke brigade at work. That everyone is oversensitive. That it is just a word, not a big deal, and we should all calm down and toughen up.
But here is the thing. In life, the areas we are most defensive about are often the ones worth examining most closely. Absolute certainty that there is no problem can sometimes signal a blind spot rather than a settled truth.
Words accumulate meaning
Words do not exist in isolation. They accumulate meaning through repetition, tone and context. When a label consistently diminishes, simplifies or sidelines a group of people, it stops being harmless shorthand and starts shaping how stories are understood.
This is especially clear in reporting on domestic and intimate partner violence. Headlines frequently say things like ‘woman killed in domestic dispute’ or ‘argument turns deadly’. Notice what is missing: the perpetrator. The person who committed the violence. In fact, often the victim is exclusively referenced in the passive voice.
What that language does is remove the perpetrator and responsibility from the sentence altogether. Instead, the event is framed as mutual, situational or accidental.
The focus shifts away from an act committed by someone, and towards a tragic situation that simply occurred. That matters, because language shapes how audiences understand accountability, patterns of harm and the seriousness of the crime itself.
We see similar laziness in everyday descriptors. Women are routinely reduced to their relationship or caregiving status. A mum of three. A young mother. A grandmother. Meanwhile, men in comparable stories are far more likely to simply be described as men.
Those labels are not always relevant, and they are rarely neutral. They narrow how women are seen, anchoring them to roles rather than recognising them as individuals first.
The PR lens
And this is where the PR lens really comes in. As a PR agency, we understand the power of words and labels. Whilst catchy terms that are widely used can make for a more engaging headline, that isn’t the only measure of success. Accuracy, fairness and long term impact matter too.
Labels are efficient, but they are also lazy. They trade nuance for speed. They flatten complexity into something clickable, familiar and easy.
So if this topic sparks a strong reaction, that in itself is revealing. Where we feel most uncomfortable is often where there is the most room to learn.
