Gender
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Gender |
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Gender is the set of sociological, behavioural and cultural characteristics associated with each sex. Often, it is used synonymously with sex, but gender and gender identity specifically refer to the individual's self-conception.
Gender is most often manifested by people terming things as masculine (like the male) or feminine (like the female). Feminists and others concerned about sexual equality maintain that all these concepts and traditions are mostly socially constructed. It is often considered politically incorrect to say otherwise, even though there are some physiological reasons behind some aspects of gender identity.
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[edit] For our readers who live outside the English-speaking world...
...yes, we know that gender actually refers to the linguistic inflections of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and articles. But please understand that beginning with the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), English speakers became very uptight when it came to words that (they thought) implied sexuality.[1] Today, researchers and advocates of "gender issues" continue to use the word as an ironic reference to what has become known as Victorian attitudes towards sex.[2]
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- ↑ For example, in the 1920s, early radio audiences living in Jesusland were shocked when they heard the way them big city slickers pronounced harass. They petitioned the networks to adopt their pronunciation of the word -- "HAIR us" -- because they were offended that anyone would say "her ASS" in polite society.
- ↑ Besides, this use of the word "gender" is so deeply entrenched in the English language that it may never be completely discarded.