gender :

gender

When discussing males and females, feminists wanting to remove references to sexuality from contexts which don’t involve mating or reproduction revived an older meaning of “gender” which had come to refer in modern times chiefly to language, as a synonym for “sex” in phrases such as “Our goal is to achieve gender equality.” Americans, always nervous about sex, eagerly embraced this usage, which is now standard. In some scholarly fields, “sex” is used to label biologically determined aspects of maleness and femaleness (reproduction, etc.) while “gender” refers to their socially determined aspects (behavior, attitudes, etc.); but in ordinary speech this distinction is not always maintained. It is disingenuous to pretend that people who use “gender” in the new senses are making an error, just as it is disingenuous to maintain that “Ms.” means “manuscript” (that’s “MS” ). Nevertheless, I must admit I was startled to discover that the tag on my new trousers describes not only their size and color, but their “gende

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Definitions

  • n  a grammatical category in inflected languages governing the agreement between nouns and pronouns and adjectives; in some languages it is quite arbitrary but in Indo-European languages it is usually based on sex or animateness
  • n  the properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles
News & Articles

  • Norway votes overwhelmingly to adopt gender-neutral armed forces draft
    OSLO, Norway, June 16 (UPI) -- Norway's Parliament voted overwhelmingly to install a policy of gender-neutral armed forces conscription, Norway's defense minister announced.
    June 16, 2013 - UPI
  • Norway to introduce gender neutral conscription
    Mandatory military service in Norway should in future be extended to all citizens, regardless of gender, according to a resolution backed by a broad majority in the country's parliament Friday.
    June 15, 2013 - Stars and Stripes
  • Gender Identity Bill Set For Del. House Vote
    DOVER, Del. - A bill aimed at protecting transgender people in Delaware by outlawing discrimination based on gender identity has cleared a House committee.    The committee released the bill following
    June 13, 2013 - WMDT Salisbury