4 ms·
A man is an "adult male human". Who's to say it's not a large "adolescent male human"?
by _puk 4y ago
A man is an "adult male human".
Who's to say it's not a large "adolescent male human"?
- Mountain_Skies 4y agoThere's an effort by activist to shame the use of male and female when discussing humans because it is an alternative to gender terms, which are ambiguous by design.
- medstrom 4y agoYou mean because it's used as an alternative, and the activists' point is that it isn't an alternative.
- staticman2 4y agoI don't think it's ever been normal to use 'male' and 'female' instead of 'men' and 'women' in normal conversations. I don't think the comment above had anything to do with trans activism. It had to do with whether you sound like a creepy robot.
- psyc 4y agoIt’s normal when they’re used as adjectives. Less so as nouns.
- staticman2 4y agoI think it's normal to use 'male' and 'female' when you have to specify species. "Male cats are solitery hunters... while Male humans hunt in groups" Or when referring to non living things "Male USB connectors" or "Male protagonists". But I don't think it's normal to refer to your fellow humans as male or female outside of those contexts. At least that's what I've picked up via cultural osmosis.
- dragonwriter 4y ago> I don't think it's ever been normal to use 'male' and 'female' instead of 'men' and 'women' in normal conversations It's common in deliberately dehumanizing contexts; you’ll see it a lot historically (in writing, we don't have audio recordings) in the context of the slave trade, it's used as distancing language by law enforcement, and “female” became somewhat common among people who talk about women-as-possessions from about the late 20th century.