The Hidden Misogyny Inside the Word “Woo”

And Why It Keeps Smart, Self-Aware People From Trusting Themselves

For years, I’ve watched something subtle but important happen in conversations about intuition, inner work, and the subconscious. People — especially high-performing coaches and leaders— flinch at anything that might get labeled as “woo.” Not because they dislike inner work. Not because they’re against healing. Not because they reject depth. But because they don’t want to lose credibility.

And honestly? I understand why.

The word woo may sound playful or harmless, but its effect is not neutral. It’s a gendered dismissal — a quiet way of saying: “That feminine way of knowing? It’s not real. It’s not serious. It’s not valid.” Rational people have learned, consciously or not, that the fastest way to be dismissed is to let anyone think their intelligence comes from intuition, emotional wisdom, or inner knowing. Because culturally, that’s still considered “lesser.”

Let’s talk about why — and why it matters.

“Woo” is a socially acceptable way to belittle feminine-coded intelligence.

Historically, feminine intelligence — intuition, somatic awareness, emotional insight, subtle perception — has been ridiculed, feared, or trivialized. People don’t say it directly anymore. Instead, they say:“Isn’t that a little woo-woo?”

But the translation is the same: “This makes me uncomfortable, so I’m going to call it irrational.”

Even when the work is grounded in psychology, memory reconsolidation, or nervous system science. Even when it’s the exact intelligence that keeps relationships intact and leaders at the top of their game. Even when neuroscience now validates everything intuition has been saying for centuries, and the best coaches use it to get fabulous results. The word woo becomes a linguistic shortcut for devaluing what women naturally excel at.

People aren’t avoiding inner work — they’re avoiding being misunderstood.

Most of the people I work with are:

• leaders

• founders

• creatives

• strategists

• coaches

• high-level professionals
  

These are individuals who think deeply, feel deeply, and care deeply — but who have been trained to appear:

• rational

• unflappable

• linear

• controlled

• “professional” in a masculine-coded way
  

They don’t want to be aligned with anything that looks unserious. And “woo” has become code for:

• unintellectual

• ungrounded

• naïve

• emotional

• irrational
  

Which means if someone values intuition, emotional safety, or subconscious work, they risk having their competence questioned. Not because the work lacks rigor, but because of the cultural baggage attached to it. Ironically, the science now validates what intuition knew all along.

Neuroscience, attachment theory, somatics, and trauma psychology have all confirmed:

• intuition is pattern-recognition

• subconscious work changes behavior

• emotional safety drives communication

• identity-level shifts determine outcomes

• the body holds memory

• nervous system regulation fuels clarity

• inner narratives shape action
  

Everything once dismissed as “woo” is now supported by research. The feminine intelligence that was ignored is now evidence-based. Those folks who were talking about “woo” were right the whole time. Culture simply lacked the language or insights.

The real problem isn’t inner work. It’s how the manifestation world whitewashed it.

The teachings of Neville Goddard, Joseph Murphy, and Maxwell Maltz were never meant to be aesthetic spirituality. They were psychological. Grounded. Identity-based. Discipline-driven.

But modern culture stripped out:

• nuance

• rigor

• emotional maturity

• the messy middle

• subconscious resistance

• nervous-system reality

And replaced them with:

• purity culture

• magical thinking

• “high vibe only”

• “manifest your man”

• quick fixes + instant gratification

• spiritual bypassing

• positivity as performance
  

This diluted version made the entire field look unserious. And rational people in particular do not want to be associated with that.

This is where misogyny shows up again: purity culture targets women most.

Purity narratives — physical, energetic, emotional — disproportionately fall on women, and are hitting the 40 and under crowd especially hard:

• “cleanse your energy”

• “detox your emotions”

• “remove negative people”

• “purify your vibration”

• “fix your mindset”
  

It shifts the emotional labor onto folks who are naturally emotional or sensitive, framing them as the problem and the solution.

It subtly says—especially to women: “If your life isn’t what you want, it’s because you aren’t pure enough.” This is not empowerment. This is the spiritual version of self-blame. And it’s another reason people who consider themselves to be on the more serious, responsible side run from anything that feels like woo — they sense the trap intuitively.

Men face penalties, too — just in the opposite direction.

Women are told: “Don’t be emotional — it makes you weak.” Men are told: “Don’t be emotional — it makes you a simp.” Women lose credibility for emotional honesty. Men lose belonging for emotional honesty. Both feel disempowered as a result.

Different pressures. Same shame. Same distancing from intuition. When a man dismisses something as woo, he’s often protecting himself from the fear of being seen as vulnerable. When a woman avoids it, she’s protecting herself from the fear of being seen as incompetent.

Same culture. Different stakes.

Calling something “woo” might seem harmless — but it closes doors that everyone needs open.

When someone who’s been chronically hurt and emotionally invalidated hesitates to explore intuition or subconscious work because of the label, they lose access to:

• emotional safety

• deeper self-trust

• embodied clarity

• relational intelligence

• pattern awareness

• nervous-system resilience

• inner authority
  

These are not “soft skills.” These are leadership skills. These are communication skills. These are identity skills. These are life skills.

The meaning we’ve assigned to the word “woo” makes them sound trivial. But what we’re really talking about are the foundations of:

• decision-making

• boundaries

• communication

• conflict navigation

• creativity

• courage

• connection
  

There is nothing trivial about any of that.

My work sits in the middle — the place no one talks about.

When I tell people I’m a practicing hypnotherapist, I see the split-second flicker of fear: “Oh God… is she one of those?”

And it’s a shame. Real hypnotherapy is not the pendulum theater everyone imagines. It’s not the aesthetic spirituality people fear being associated with.

It’s grounded in:

• memory reconsolidation

• nervous system repair

• identity-level transformation

• subconscious pattern integration

It changed my life in a way traditional modalities did not. And it’s the most practical, grounded work I’ve ever done with clients. But language — woo, hypnosis, subconscious — still carries cultural stigma rooted in the dismissal of feminine-coded intelligence.

Which is why people who consider themselves logical hesitate. 

And why I’m writing this.

The truth is simple: intuitive, emotional, relational intelligence is real intelligence.

Dismissing it as “woo” isn’t a cute joke. It’s a cultural reflex that keeps women from trusting themselves. And it keeps all of us — men and women — from accessing the full depth of our inner lives.

The word is small. But its impact is not. It’s time to retire it —or at least recognize what it reveals, not about the work.

But about us.