strong, intense emotions or desires, often about things you care deeply about.
From Latin 'passio' meaning suffering or feeling, derived from 'patior' (to suffer, endure). Originally connected to the Passion of Christ, then broadened to mean any intense emotion.
The word 'passion' originally meant suffering because Romans believed strong emotions were things done *to* you, not by you—you suffered your love, your anger. Now we celebrate our passions as proof we're alive.
Passions have been gendered as feminine weakness since Enlightenment philosophy, used to justify excluding women from rational authority. Men's 'passions' are reframed as conviction or conviction; women's labeled as hysteria or irrationality.
Use 'passions' equally to describe commitment across genders; avoid gendered framings that pit emotion against reason.
["commitment","conviction","motivation","drive"]
Women's passionate advocacy for justice, equality, and change has driven major social movements despite being dismissed as emotional rather than rational.
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