# sex or gender?



## word_up

Hello,

I'm just curious: while reading a scientific paper I encounter, among various demographic variables characterizing subjects in a study, *gender* and not *sex*. (the paper is about mentally ill people, _gender_ meaning physical _sex_ in this case).

Is there a trend in English-speaking countries to use *gender* instead of/interchangeably with *sex*? Especially in academic papers?

Gender of course relates to "psychological sex", but does it require special context to appear (e.g. studies of gay relationships) or is it widely used.

Thank you


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## cuchuflete

Once upon a time, sex was used to note biological distinctions, and gender was used for grammar.  Then (parts of) the world became politically correct.  Combining politically correct language with the puritanism of many English speakers has resulted in the use (or misuse) of gender to mean sex.   Yes, it is a trend.




> _*Usage Note*_: Traditionally, _gender_ has been used primarily to refer to the grammatical categories of "masculine," "feminine," and "neuter," but in recent years the word has become well established in its use to refer to sex-based categories, as in phrases such as _gender gap_ and _the politics of gender._ This usage is supported by the practice of many anthropologists, who reserve _sex_ for reference to biological categories, while using _gender_ to refer to social or cultural categories. According to this rule, one would say _The effectiveness of the medication appears to depend on the sex_ (not _gender_) _of the patient,_ but _In peasant societies, gender_ (not _sex_) _roles are likely to be more clearly defined._ This distinction is useful in principle, but it is by no means widely observed, and considerable variation in usage occurs at all levels.​                          The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
> Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.


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## El escoces

I'm confused by your reference to physical sex, word up.  Despite what I would normally infer from that phrase, I don't think you are talking here about sexual intercourse.

"Gender" is the correct word to refer to whether someone or something is male or female/masculine or feminine.  In that sense, I understand that you mean, by physical sex, whether a person is _biologically_ male or female.

Gender has nothing to do with a person's sexual inclinations.


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## Packard

As recently as 1970 (when I was still in journalism school) "gender" was still considered a part of speech and was not used to describe the sex of a person or animal (at least in journalism).

I know this for a fact because I got a "D" on a paper for misusing this word to refer to sex instead of a part of speech.  

(You got an automatic "D" for misusing words in a paper.)


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## panjandrum

Within the world of the UK National Health Service both terms are used to refer to data attributes of people.
Examples from the Scottish NHS.
Sex at Birth is a factual statement of the biological sex of the individual at birth.  Values are not known, male, female, indeterminate/ not specified.
Person Current Gender is a statement of the gender the person currently considers themself to be.  Values are not known, male, female, other specific, not specified.


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## George French

Packard said:


> As recently as 1970 (when I was still in journalism school) "gender" was still considered a part of speech and was not used to describe the sex of a person or animal (at least in journalism).
> 
> I know this for a fact because I got a "D" on a paper for misusing this word to refer to sex instead of a part of speech.
> 
> (You got an automatic "D" for misusing words in a paper.)


 
Nice to know that once upon a time journalists were expected to write good English. Sex? In my old fashioned world means male or female?. There are many other more delightful words for sex if one is implying intercourse.

Who gave anyone the right to and tell us which words etc. are not PC and who has the right to attempt to enforce it? (Sorry, I mean enforce it, it's happening to us.)

GF..


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## cuchuflete

El escoces said:


> "Gender" is *the* correct word to refer to whether someone or something is male or female/masculine or feminine.  In that sense, I understand that you mean, by physical sex, whether a person is _biologically_ male or female.


*Emphasis added

*Gender is *one of the *words currently used to distinguish between males and females.
The other is _sex._ 

AE dictionary:  (Random House Unabridged)


> Sex
> 
> –noun   1. either the male or female division of a species, esp. as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions.     2. the sum of the structural and functional differences by which the male and female are distinguished, or the phenomena or behavior dependent on these differences.



BE dictionary (Compact Oxford English Dictionary)


> Sex
> 
> *noun* *1* either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and most other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. *2* the fact of belonging to one of these categories. *3* the group of all members of either sex.



If you prefer to call it _gender_, I happily accept your choice.  Please do not insist that it is the only correct choice.


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## suzi br

I usually make the distinction of sex as being biologically given: the primary sex-organs. Gender is something socially constructed, like wearing a pink nail-polish and frilly frocks, in sociological terms. 

I also think that political correctness is about being polite, rather than "enforcement".


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## suma

I always felt that gender was the better choice of words when talking whether or not a person or thing was male or female. It does not lead to humorous responses like the guy when filling out an application, where it says "sex" he writes "yes please" 

As for:
Gender of course relates to "psychological sex"

that sounds a little silly, unless of course we acknowledge the man who pyschologicaly believes he is a vampire, or a martian, or a teapot?


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## Nunty

Moderator note:

Tempting as the broader subject is, please stick to the thread topic, which is the correct usage of the words "sex" and "gender". The topic is not political correctness, gender-specific behavior or sexism. (And don't let me get started on any of those! )

Thank you.
Nun-Translator


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## word_up

Thank you all, I am happy to have this clarified in detail!

In the paper I happen to be reading it is referring to biological sex (reference to intercourse was not intended, "physical sex" is a calque from Polish- forgot the ambiguity it has in English). 
A small explanation: 
It wouldn't bother me if gender referred to social/psychological construct (e.g. to describe a transsexual person, where sex and gender differ) because that was the last stage of the evolution of it's meaning I seemed to know of until today's discussion (e.g.  *cuchuflete's* post).
Didn't mean to imply it has something to do with sexual inclinations (although it may or may not be the case, that's why it could be studied I think).
Sorry for the confusion it raised.

And thank you all again.


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## panjandrum

suzi br said:


> I usually make the distinction of sex as being biologically given: the primary sex-organs. Gender is something socially constructed, like wearing a pink nail-polish and frilly frocks, in sociological terms.
> ...


I wouldn't have gone for the nail-polish-frilly-frock examples, but I think suzi's distinction is very much in line with the more formal definitions used within the UK public sector.

I don't see what is silly about defining gender on the basis of sociology/psychology/personal choice.

Back to the question about whether there is perceptible change in the use of these terms in formal contexts - to use gender rather than sex.  Within my world that is not the case.  The terms have distinct and specific meanings so that a formal document that used one in place of the other would be misleading.  

In more casual contexts, though, I feel that gender is more often used than before in contexts where my choice would be sex.


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## suzi br

fetchezlavache said:


> 'political correctness is about being polite'  Ah you made my day, in an odd way. Nothing personal, of course.
> 
> Regarding what you say about gender, how does it relate to the times when men wore long hair, powder on their faces, and make-up, and tons of lace and frilly bits ? Did that make them female, same as you seem to imply that pink nail-polish is enough to deem someone female ?
> !


Happy to entertain you. 
I certainly *do not* imply that wearing pink nail polish is enough to make someone female. 

Your point PROVES my point, actually .. that gender is *socially constructed. I*t is not the same in different times and places. So when men were wearing silk stockings and wigs that was part of the social construction of the male gender AT THAT TIME .. the outward stuff can / does change, but the genitals don't .. so the genitals are "sex" and the surface stuff is classed as "gender "

.. it is a useful distinction in subjects related to sociology, anthropology, etc


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## suzi br

On the other hand I have to agree that non-academics do tend to use the word gender as suma says, in a more loose way.  Some people are apparently too squeamish to see the word sex on a form!


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## word_up

In this context, I wondered what would be better choice to use in translation,
where e.g. description of a study contains data about male/female ratio/percentage of subjects.

As I saw it, I might have been either more polite, or more accurate (academically or formally). Until now, that is, because this discussion inspired me, and I have checked the occurence of "_gender_" and "_sex_" with a nearby word "_subjects_" in COCA. 
And what I saw, is that they have a similar frequency of occurence (searched in academic writings).
However, you need to take into account the double meaning of _sex_,
so _gender_ turned out to be more popular - _of course this doesn't at all mean it's more accurate, rather, it's widely accepted and understood in academic texts_, in AE for that matter.

(Some comments reminded me of a joke, when a foreigner enters an English-speaking country and is asked by an officer for his personal data:
- Your name?
- (xxx)
- Year of birth?
- (xxx)
- Sex?
- Yes, I like.
- I mean: male or female?
- Yes, both, and ... (and so on ... )


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## Sabapathy

Hi,  Folks,

Gender:  refers  to  classification  of  all  things  in  the  world,
like
father:-  male  gender
mother:-  female  gender
bull :-  male
cow:-  female
ship:-  female
car:-  female

However  for  the  use  of  sex:-  it  is  restricted  to  only  for  living  things  in  the  world

you  can  not  describe  the  sex  of  a  car.
But  you  can  describe  the  gender  of  the  car  as  female.

Hope  this  settles  the  issue

from  Sabapathy


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## cuchuflete

Sabapathy said:


> Hi,  Folks,
> 
> Gender:  refers  to  classification  of  all  things  in  the  world,
> like
> father:-  male  gender
> mother:-  female  gender
> bull :-  male
> cow:-  female
> ship:-  female
> car:-  female
> 
> However  for  the  use  of  sex:-  it  is  restricted  to  only  for  living  things  in  the  world
> 
> _* you  can  not  describe  the  sex  of  a  car.
> But  you  can  describe  the  gender  of  the  car  as  female.*_
> 
> Hope  this  settles  the  issue
> 
> from  Sabapathy


*emphasis added. *

Thank you for your kind attempt to settle the issue.  Please note carefully that describing the gender of a car as male or female is possible and necessary in other languages.   English does not use grammatical gender for nouns.


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## Mary_Poppins

Hi everybody,

i'm wiritng an essay on the following topic "opportunities for men and women"

i have this chunk: " a person should have opportunities based on his/her knowledge and experience; people shouldn't be judged by their sex(here the problem sex/gender). Every day, sex(here the problem again--gender?) is less important."

Thanks a lot.
Mary


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## ingrid_r

"Oportunities should be based on a person's knowledge and experience, not on his/her gender. Gender is becoming less important every day."

(but not sex!, jeje)


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## greenheyes

Sorry to disagree, but I think people have sex (if they´re lucky!) and words have gender.


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## Mary_Poppins

yes, greenheyes, but when we talk about violence, it is usually said "gender violence" or "gender-based violence"...


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## greenheyes

I was thinking of your original sentence *People shouldn´t be judged by/on their sex/gender*. I still think the best choice is *sex* in this example. Together with the word _violence_, gender sounds a bit better.


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## ingrid_r

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml

This is the Declaration of Human Rights. Read Article 2 (they say "sex")

(But I'm not sure that applies to your text)


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## Boo the Chancho

Hi Mary,

This is a problem lots of people have. Out of curiosity, I looked up the definitions of sex and gender respectively on dictionary.com. The first definition of gender is in the grammatical sense and, as Greenheyes pointed out, gender tends to apply to words and word groupings. However, in secondary definitions, it is also listed as a synonym for sex--thus the use in gender violence or violence-based gender also makes sense.

The primary definition of sex, on the other hand, refers to "either the male or female division of a species, esp. as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions." I believe it is more correct to use "sex" in this case but I would reformulate the second sentence as otherwise the double meaning is a little awkward.

One possibility: "a person should have opportunities based on his or her knowledge and experience, not based on his or her sex. Every day, distinctions between the sexes are becoming less important."

Good luck, Boo


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## Mary_Poppins

Thanks a lot to all of you!!!

You've been of great help to me. My doubt 's now gone!!!

Mary


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## aztlaniano

I've seen "gender", in reference to people, used to mean a subjective condition -what a person considers him/her/itself to be- as opposed to sex, which is obective, based on that person's physical characteristics.
Hence it would be possible to belong simultaneously, for example, to the male sex but the female gender.


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## Franzi

I would use 'sex' here since you are discussing women being discriminated against because they are women rather than people being descriminated against because they act feminine.

If you _do _want to take on the larger topic of discrimination based on behavior/dress/mannerisms/etc., then 'gender' would be appropriate.


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## Basil Ganglia

In the contemporary AmE that I use and encounter, gender is broadly used as a synonym for sex.  When filling out forms, for example, a box to indicate female or male is as likely to ask gender as it is to ask sex.


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## GreenWhiteBlue

The proper word to use to describe the state of a living creature being male or female is "sex".  However, because some people think the word _sex_ is somehow 'dirty", the word _gender_ in recent decades came to be used as a euphemism for the wholesome and innocent word_ sex_.  There are many (and I am one) who think there was no need for any such euphemism, and that replacing "sex" with "gender" is not only unnecessary and inexact, but more than a little prissy.  Nevertheless, this usage has increased over time.  

What makes the situation complicated is that in more recent years, a new justification has been claimed for using the word "gender" rather than "sex": namely, that these words do _*not*_ in fact mean the same thing (which contradicts the reason for using "gender" in the first place in place of "sex"): instead, "gender" refers to how masculine or feminine the person regards himself or herself to be, or how masculine or feminine that person may be perceived to be by others because of appearance or actions, regardless of the person's biological sex.

I would therefore say that if you are talking about the physical, biological difference between men and women, that you use the term "sex", and that you reserve "gender" to speak of classes of nouns in certain languages, or to speak of ideas of masculinity or femininity that are not the same thing as a male/female physical distinction in biology.


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## cuchuflete

We have discussed this at great length in this forum, as well as in the SP<>EN forums and in Cultural Discussions.  GreenWhiteBllue has given an accurate and precise summary of the facts.  I fully agree with his suggestions.


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## MrPedantic

I would file into the lobby behind Greenheyes' pithy formulation and GWB's analysis. However, there is then a problem with the second sentence:

1. Every day, sex is less important.

Adding "one's" before "sex" might mitigate that melancholy statement.

MrP


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## Bryan_K

Hi, guys!
I aways see gender be used in a table in my country and my English teacher also taught me that gender is more official. However, one day, a Canadian friend of mine told me that he felt uncomfortable when he see the word, which should be replaced by sex. I am confused now. How can no one in my country notice that mistake? Or they are both ok? Which one is more common in your country? Does it depend on where you live？


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## oiseauxlahaut

Sex is biological. Male and female.
Gender is an identification. Man and woman.
For both cases there are people who argue that there are more sexes and genders than just those two per category and that you can mix and match, but that is a debate too long for these forums. Most places will just give you a choice- male/man or female/woman. Gender is starting to be used more often, but when you see male and female under "gender" (on a form, in a table, etc.) that is wrong and it should be "sex".


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## Wishfull

Hi.
In Japan too, I think "gender" is more formal than "sex".

I personally believe that "gender" is better just because "sex" has another different meaning which might not be proper in public/official spaces.

Without it, "sex" is a more common, ordinary, and basic word.

edit; I know I was wrong. I've learned from oiseauxlahaut.


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## liliput

_Gender _is more formal. On the other hand, _sex _is a shorter word so it's more usual to be asked to indicate your sex when filling out a form for example. Of course, this does often lead to some joker writing "yes please" on the form. Generally speaking, _sex _is more commonly used.


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## Bryan_K

Gender: man/women
Sex: male/female
Thanks.


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## Sowka

Hello 

The words seem to be almost equivalent, with "gender" being more formal, as already mentioned. The Cambridge online dictionary gives the following defitions for them:



> Sex: the state of being either male or female:
> What sex is your cat?
> Some tests enable you to find out the sex *of* your baby before it's born.
> It's illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of (their) sex.
> She accused her employer of sex discrimination (= of treating her unfairly because she was a woman).


 


> gender (SEX)
> noun  FORMAL
> the physical and/or social condition of being male or female:
> Does this test show the gender of the baby?
> Discrimination on the basis of race, gender, age or disability is not allowed.




In the context of grammar tables, however, I think one should always use "gender", because the grammatical "gender" is something that in several languages is allocated in an arbitrary manner, without any reference to an actual biological gender. In German, for instance, the "lamp" is a female noun, whereas the "table" is a male noun. 

Although this does not happen in English (the lamp is as neuter as the table ), it is probably wise to stick to the denomination "gender" in English grammar books, too.

* * * * 

BTW: this has been discussed before: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1265814
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1384823


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## little_rabbit123

Hi,

Here I would discuss some marginal issues, hope you guys don't mind.

In most cases, gender and sex are two interchangeably used words, I think, esp for the purpose of pretending to devoid discrimination.

But, I am interested in knowing which word appeared in your ID card.

Besides, I suppose, there is also a minor difference between them. For gender is socially formed, sex natural or biologially founded. Suppose a man has undertaken a transsexual surgury, then is his gender changed? Or, are his gender as well as sex are changed? Is there anything shown on his ID card/ profile/ personal information forms?

What about a man who likes to live feminely without biological transformation, when it comes to gender and sex on ID card or other profile /personal information forms?


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## bluegiraffe

We don't have ID cards/forms in the UK.  It says sex on my passport - I think.  Gender is just a polite way of saying sex without using the actual word sex or its connotations.


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## rusita preciosa

US driver's licence and passport: both use *sex.*


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## bluegiraffe

I just looked on my drivers licence and it isn't mentioned at all.  My name is listed as Miss Blue Giraffe though so I suppose they go by that.  

When someone undergoes a sex change, they are legally of the new gender/sex.  Their personal information would reflect this.


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## little_rabbit123

What about a man who likes to live feminely without biological transformation, when it comes to gender and sex on ID card or other profile /personal information forms?


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## bluegiraffe

Without a sex change operation, he's legally still a man and it would be reflected on his passport etc.


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## rusita preciosa

It's only the matter of documents, not related to the surgery. If the person legally changes the gender (with or without the operation), it will be reflected in the documents. In many countries before the surgical sex change, the person legally changes the gender and lives with it for a period of time, then decides whether he /she wants the surgery or not.


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## panjandrum

little_rabbit123 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Here I would discuss some marginal issues, hope you guys don't mind.
> 
> ...


Please remember that you are expected to use the forum search facilities before posting a new question, and to add to a previous thread if possible rather than starting a new one.
This helps avoid duplication of topics and, more significantly, helps those who have contributed thoughtfully in the past to avoid  feeling that they must post the same thoughts again.

See post #5 in this merged thread for the UK National Health Service definitions and usage.


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## Daffodil100

The sex of Mary's kid is a boy;
The gender of Mary's kid is a boy.

Are sex and gender alternative in such a case? Which one is better? Generally I would use gender, but I read a report in the Daily Mail, the journalist used 'sex. 



> Guess the sex: Danielle and her fiance say they're keeping the sex of their baby a secret although a recent shopping trip hinted it could be a boy


 
Thanks.


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## Loob

Did you look for previous threads, Daffodil?

I found this one: sex or gender? by putting _sex gender_ into the search box at the top of the page.


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## entangledbank

'Sex' is the ordinary word for whether someone is female or male. Surely no-one would ever use the somewhat academic or official 'gender' with the colloquial 'kid'.


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## Saint72

I think you are slightly confused... 
a boy refers to the sex and you would not say it like this..

My suggestions

1) Mary's kid is a boy
2) The sex of Mary's kid is male

In regards to gender. You can be male or female but you wouldn't say his gender is male.. you would say he is a male.

Before you know the gender or sex (both equal) of a baby these sentences may work/

1) they do not know the gender of Mary's kid
2) they do not know the sex of Mary's

You can see from the article quote that the child has not be been born yet and they do not know the gender..

Hope this helps


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## Barque

The two words don't always mean exactly the same thing but in this context either word may be used. 

"Gender" sounds a little more formal to me in this context but that's just my opinion.


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## Packard

When I was growing up "gender" was a part of speech, that is it referred to words only. 

Sex refers to living creatures.

That distinction has been lost over the last 25 years (but I remain true to it).

"Policeman" [the word itself] is gender-specific (male).

A policeman is a male. [the sex of the police officer is male]

A distinction that is no longer made. (Except by me and other diehards like me.)


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## Daffodil100

Thank you everyone. 

Loob, thank you for the thread. Sorry I forgot to search it this forum.


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## Jam on toast

It would seem that people are understandably eager to convey the meaning of being either male or female using an unambiguous word, "gender", rather than the ambiguous and titillating alternative "sex". If this trend has occurred since the 1970's, perhaps it coincided with the increase in the usage of the word "sex", as an abbreviation of "sexual intercourse", in everyday media?

I thought about the word "gender" for a while, and I don't think I'd ever use it to help distinguish between physical sex and social or psychological sex. On the other hand, I would use words that come under the topic of gender to make that distinction.

For example, I might refer to a transvestite man as "she" (if he preferred being referred to as female), using the female gender pronoun, but I wouldn't ever say that the transvestite was of the female gender or female sex, which would in my eyes just not be true.


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## Gwan

Regarding using 'gender' as a sort of euphemism to avoid saying 'sex', I've started to notice people using 'gender' in reference to animals. Ugh! For the record, I do agree with sex = biological, gender = social construct (i.e. I'm not with the camp that argues any use of 'gender' other than in linguistics is a PC affectation), but it is very irritating to see it used for animals!


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## Packard

Just for the record I remain old school and treat "gender" to mean a part of speech.  Words have a gender, not people.  "Gender" never meant "male" or "female".  That is probably changed by usage but it seems to me to be sloppy usage.


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## Hildy1

Packard said:


> Just for the record I remain old school and treat "gender" to mean a part of speech.  Words have a gender, not people.  "Gender" never meant "male" or "female".  That is probably changed by usage but it seems to me to be sloppy usage.



I sympathize with this point of view. When sociologists needed a word to refer to social roles and expectations related to male / female people, they stole the grammarians' word "gender". Now the word is used by the general public to mean sex (male or female, as in "What is the dog's gender?) So the sociologists' word has been stolen from them. Serves 'em right.


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## Keith Bradford

Packard said:


> Just for the record I remain old school and treat "gender" to mean a part of speech.  Words have a gender, not people.  "Gender" never meant "male" or "female".  That is probably changed by usage but it seems to me to be sloppy usage.



I'm one of the old school of linguists who recognise that when a new phenomenon arises, it's appropriate to find a word for it.  I see no difference between adopting "gender" to mean the sociological aspect of sex, and adopting "mouse" to describe a hand-held computer interface.

If it's used by the general public to mean _sex_, then that's a popular (and prudish) error.


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## Hildy1

Keith Bradford said:


> I'm one of the old school of linguists who recognise that when a new phenomenon arises, it's appropriate to find a word for it.  I see no difference between adopting "gender" to mean the sociological aspect of sex, and adopting "mouse" to describe a hand-held computer interface.
> 
> If it's used by the general public to mean _sex_, then that's a popular (and prudish) error.



But isn't there just as much sense to using "gender" to mean sex (m / f), now that "sex", for many people, means not the male / female distinction, but sexual intercourse? It's a whole complex shift in meaning.


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## Packard

Hildy1 said:


> But isn't there just as much sense to using "gender" to mean sex (m / f), now that "sex", for many people, means not the male / female distinction, but sexual intercourse? It's a whole complex shift in meaning.



I'd chime in but this probably needs a new thread to avoid the wrath of the Mods.


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## Copperknickers

Packard said:


> Just for the record I remain old school and treat "gender" to mean a part of speech.  Words have a gender, not people.  "Gender" never meant "male" or "female".  That is probably changed by usage but it seems to me to be sloppy usage.



In sociology terms, 'gender' is differentiated from 'sex': sex is biological, gender is neurological. Hence the term 'transgender'. A pre-surgery trans woman is male by sex, and female by gender. LGBTQ activists believe that biological sex is irrelevant in most contexts, and that generally speaking people should be considered as 'male' or female' according to their neurological gender. So it's not 'sloppy', it's a very deliberate usage, in that context. 

Although of course in normal usage, most people say 'gender' only to avoid the embarassment of having to say 'sex'.


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## Keith Bradford

There are about ten ways by which we habitually identify a stranger's sex/gender.  (More details by PM if you like.)

For example, on a nudist beach we can easily see their primary sexual characteristics (genitals) and secondary sexual characteristics (e.g. breasts).  If we're quite advanced in the medical profession we might be able to analyse their chromosomes or hormones.  These are four *sex *differences.

However, there are other techniques, the ones that most of use use daily in 99+% of our dealings to decide in a fraction of a second whether to say "Sir" or "Ma'am".  They involve recognising some secondary sexual characteristics such as voice and facial hair, but also other features that have nothing much to do with sex in its basic meaning.  A traffic policeman can tell it from a driving licence, a customs officer will ask for a passport.  Most of us look at clothing or gestural clues.  In the abstract, a given-name or a profession may help us. These aren't sexually determined (unless you're some kind of fundamentalist who believes that women wearing trousers or men with long hair are an aberration against the laws of God/Nature).  They are *gender *differences.

Now, I'm a bit of a nostalgic myself, and hanker after the days when language was simpler, when _mainframes _were only found on bicycles and _crack _in window-panes.  But I'm not prepared to throw away several decades of sociological research (not to mention common sense) by denying the modern distinction between *sex *and *gender*, and the usefulness of having two separate words for them.

-------------------------------------------

Referring back to Mary Poppins's question in #13:
"a person should have opportunities based on his/her knowledge and experience; people shouldn't be judged by their sex(here the problem sex/gender). Every day, sex(here the problem again--gender?) is less important."

In fact _*both *_words should be retained.  My proposal: _"People should have opportunities based on their knowledge and experience; people shouldn't be judged by either their sex or their gender. Every day, sex and gender are less important." _ Rephrasing it in that way, both men and women, straight and gay, cisgender, transgender and gender-neutral (androgynous) people are all protected.


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## Cheburator

cuchuflete said:


> describing the gender of a car as male or female is possible and necessary in other languages.   English does not use grammatical gender for nouns.


I think Sabapathy meant that you lot often refer to a car as a "she", as well as to a ship. That could make us think of them as female.


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