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Why are people now afraid to say "sex" or "race"?
Everywhere I look, every form I'm asked to complete, I see the word "gender" replacing "sex" as though the word "sex" has become taboo. I also see people using the word "ethnicity" instead of "race" and probably for the same reasons. Why has it become so very un-PC to actually talk of male and female - i.e. sexes? If we start to substitute the cultural value attached to a sex for the sex itself isn't our language damaged? E.G., in the French language a table or a pen is feminine gender. If "gender" now means "sex" then it becomes difficult to explain the way that language works. It's the same for ethnicity and race. There's no racial difference worth speaking of between (say) Dutch and Germans but there are ethnic (cultural) differences. In places like Jamaica there are big racial variants in the population but culturally (ie ethnically) people are pretty much the same.
Most of black Africa is racially near identical but there are big ethnic differences. It's daft to confuse the two.
Victoria, you might have added some detail. Male, female..er.....er... what am I missing?
Granny, there has to be a difference between a person's sex and how their society/culture values that sex. As an online dictionary puts it:-"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."
To get back to my point - forms actually want to know my biological classification - not what my culture insists I should wear or act like.
If 'gender' is the correct term for male and female what is the correct term for masculine and feminine which are societal values, cultural constructs or linguistic categories? You can't have it both ways.
3 Answers
- 9 years agoFavourite answer
They ask for 'genders' instead of 'sex' because they don't want people giving answers like "Twice a week"
- grannyLv 79 years ago
Gender is the correct term, what is your gender, male or female?
Race is actually the COLOR of your skin, and facial type.
Ethnicity is the correct term, a group of people who share or identify with heritage, language and culture.
- Anonymous9 years ago
Sex has multiple meanings.