I Almost Had This...

wĕnch/ w[e^]nch/ wɛntʃ

Quick! 

What is the definition of the word "WENCH"? 

Write it down. 

And now keep reading...

Off the hop it caught your attention, didn't it?

No matter who you are, where you come from or your age, you have an idea of what you think that word means. However, the special trait about this word is that every source says something different concerning its meaning and origin:

• The first recorded use of the word in 1290AD had the meaning as a "girl, maid, young woman"
• By 1362 the definition changed to "a wanton woman; a mistress" based on the quote "I am a gentil womman and no wenche"
• Then, 18 years later (1380) the meaning changed to "a female servant, maidservant, serving-maid"
• Finally, in 1581, it became known as "a familiar or endearing form of address; used chiefly in addressing a daughter, wife or sweetheart"
• And to confuse matters even more the origins of the word was a short-form for the Middle English word wenchel and Old English term wencel – meaning child.

[Knowing that, consider what you wrote down. Was it on this list? Was it a negative connotation? Positive?  What was the reason for that definition you chose? [note: this answer depends on who you are as a person and your gender]]

It's like a decision couldn't be made on the semantics of the word and the only thing that remained the same was that it was meant to address women. Whether it started off as a generic term, became a negative meaning by narrowing and then was made better by amelioration, no one really knows what true story is; it's just a guessing game based on historically written texts, letters and poems – not even the smarty pants linguists or historians can truly pinpoint it. So what's happened now is that every single meaning has stuck and been added to the list definitions.

So, why Wench? Because is the embodiment of a modern day woman...
> Like the word: she is mysterious. She is evolving and ever-shifting. She is hard to figure out
> Like the meanings: she is a child, a maiden, a lover of sex, a career woman and a sweetheart
> Like the linguistic evolution: she challenges conventions by shifting from good to bad and maiden to whore.

Most importantly, women are allowed to be whichever definition they want to be <–– that's what makes this word so damn special and that's what makes me want to LIVE, BE, DESIGN and EMBRACE this word.