{"id":1586,"date":"2015-03-18T09:05:01","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T15:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=1586"},"modified":"2015-03-18T09:05:01","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T15:05:01","slug":"sex-gender-and-the-evolution-of-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2015\/03\/sex-gender-and-the-evolution-of-language.html","title":{"rendered":"Sex, gender, and the evolution of language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Or, \u201cwow, that was fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once upon a time, \u201cgender\u201d had one meaning: \u00a0the linguistic differentiation, in various languages, between words which were masculine, feminine, or neuter, which dictates which articles and, depending on language, which adjective endings are used. \u00a0It seems to me that people occasionally try to make the claim that whether a word is masculine or feminine in a given language says something about the culture.<\/p>\n

Some time ago, in the 70s or 80s, feminists \u00a0began using the term \u201cgender\u201d to refer to the concept that the differences between (typical) men and (typical) women are as much a matter of culture as biology. \u00a0\u201cSex\u201d was reduced to the biological differences between men and women. \u00a0With the increasing promotion of rights and acceptance of people who, born of one sex, feel that, deep down, they really \u201care\u201d the opposite sex, the entire concept of \u201csex differences\u201d is being erased.<\/p>\n

But what\u2019s striking is this: \u00a0\u201cgender\u201d has been adopted wholesale, and by people who don\u2019t think they\u2019re making a point about\u00a0social construction of differences between the sexes, but more universally. \u00a0I suspect that when rather ordinary people, or even conservatives who object to the feminist reasons for adopting the term \u201cgender,\u201d use it nonetheless, (a) \u00a0they\u2019re either not giving it any thought because it\u2019s become normal, or (b) language has changed so much that \u201csex\u201d has also been redefined \u2014 that is, to refer specifically to sexual intercourse or sexual assault, so that people feel uncomfortable with the word \u201csex\u201d in any other context.<\/p>\n

Just do a google search for \u201cgender\u201d and look at the news articles. \u00a0Where a decade ago, we\u2019d have said \u201csex discrimination,\u201d it\u2019s now \u201cgender discrimination,\u201d in Reuter\u2019s \u201cNovartis unit hit with $110 million gender discrimination suit<\/a>.\u201d \u00a0Where we had \u201csexual equality,\u201d it\u2019s now \u201cgender equality,\u201d in \u201cThoughts on Gender Equality in Tech, Interrupted<\/a>,\u201d at the WSJ. \u00a0There\u2019s the \u201cgender pay gap\u201d in the Newsweek article, \u201cGender Pay Gap Won\u2019t Close for Another 43 Years<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It gets even more confused, as the reporting on a Florida bill requiring individuals to use the bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex gets translated as \u201cGender bathroom bill clears second panel<\/a>,\u201d in a local paper, with its first paragraphs stating,<\/p>\n

Despite strong opposition from transgender Floridians, a second House panel approved a bill Thursday that would require people to use the bathrooms of their biological gender or the gender stated on their driver\u2019s license or passport.<\/p>\n

Transgender groups have called Rep. Frank Artiles\u2019 HB 583 discriminatory because it would force transgender people to use the bathroom of the sex they were at birth, even though they may look like and identify as the opposite sex.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps this is all a matter of journalism\u2019s stylebook dictating every one of these usages. \u00a0But it impacts the rest of us, too.<\/p>\n

Is this just what happens to language over time (though in this case, remarkably fast)? \u00a0Or is this a dangerous redefinition, that will ultimately rob us of needed vocabulary?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or, \u201cwow, that was fast.\u201d Once upon a time, \u201cgender\u201d had one meaning: \u00a0the linguistic differentiation, in various languages, between words which were masculine, feminine, or neuter, which dictates which articles and, depending on language, which adjective endings are used. \u00a0It seems to me that people occasionally try to make the claim that whether a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSex, gender, and the evolution of language<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Or, "wow, that was fast." 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