5 ms·
> Same as any other gender identity (like man or woman). I think there are some distinguishing characteristics for someone who is male vs someone who is female
by scott31 6y ago
> Same as any other gender identity (like man or woman).
I think there are some distinguishing characteristics for someone who is male vs someone who is female.
- Kaze404 6y ago"Male" and "female" aren't genders.
- empthought 6y agoNeither is “gender fluid,” though, is it?
- grogenaut 6y agoIt would be helpful if you chose to educate by linking to the definitions you are using instead of just chastising for someone not knowing the terminology you are using. The Wikipedia article for gender mentions that the terms sex and gender for biological gender/sex have flip flopped multiple times in the last 30 years. HN is supposed to be a place where people learn, not an anger pit like the rest of the web.
- hackmiester 6y agoI didn’t see any anger in this thread so far.
- Kaze404 6y agoI agree, but you can't really assume good faith from the snarky comment I responded to.
- grogenaut 6y agoReading the GP again, it doesn't seem snarky. They are just stating what they believe the definition is. It's very easy to read emotion into an emotionless format like text. Which means it's very easy to devolve the conversation to anger very quickly.
- Kaze404 6y agoFrom that perspective, you also read emotion on my emotionless text. I was also just stating what I believe the definition is, with no more or less information than the comment I responded to.
- trianglem 6y agoReally the problem is gender isn’t.
- simonsarris 6y agoIn the English language they are: The term has been used to distinguish male and female for over 200 years, and increasingly so for the last 50 years. Of course we have proof of this. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_end=2019&year_start=1800&smoothing=3&content=male+gender%2Cfemale+gender&corpus=26&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cmale%20gender%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cfemale%20gender%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_end=2019&year_sta... Compare also: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_end=2019&year_start=1800&smoothing=3&content=male+gender%2C+female+gender&corpus=26&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cmale%20gender%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Cfemale%20gender%3B%2Cc0 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?year_end=2019&year_sta... Neologisms like "biological male/female" barely register, so I won't include them.
- User23 6y agoHistorically male and female are sexes and masculine, feminine, and neuter are genders.
- dragonwriter 6y agoHistorically, the distinction between sex, ascribed gender, and gender identity hasn't been made until very recently, with “sex” (in the sense of male vs. female) and “gender” being used as synonyms, with “gender” often preferred over “sex” simply to avoid confusion with (or just evocation of) the other (intercourse) sense of “sex”; “masculine” and “feminine” weren't used for most of history for either ascribed gender or gender identity as traits of people, but for something closer to gender expression (adherence to sex stereotypes.) (“Gender” referring to a grammatical trait, where “masculine” and “feminine” are among the possible values is an older concept, sure, but that's not really particularly relevant.)
- leephillips 6y agoExactly. I would add that, among people who are not squeamish about the word “sex”, it is the preferred term for distinguishing male and female, while “gender” is more useful in discussing the grammar of romance languages.