Would you people please learn how to use the word 'gender' correctly?

[Anonymous]

It does not mean whether a person is a man or a woman. The correct word for that is sex. "Do you get along with people of the opposite sex." Not gender.

Gender refers to language, to the nouns and pronouns and how they are used in language to reflect the masculine or feminine nature of an object, for example.

Words like he/she, him/her, his/hers refer to gender. Words such as actor/actress, waiter/waitress, king/queen refer to gender. Words such as bull/cow, pig/sow, drake/duck refer to gender. "Do you know the gender of that duck?" is not correct. It is "do you know the sex of that duck?" If the sex of the duck is female, it is a duck. If the sex of the duck is male, it is a drake. That is gender. The words, not the thing itself.

"If I have any children how can I choose the gender of the child?" is incorrect. It is, "if I have any children how can I choose the sex of the child?"

"Gender divide is going to get exponentially worse with upcoming election?" is incorrect (and not even a question). "Do you think the division between the sexes is going to get exponentially worse with upcoming election?" is correct.

[CheeseMonster]

There are multiple meanings for most words.

• Sex can mean someone/thing's status as male or female (or intersex), the act of intercourse (potentially several different acts), or the act of evaluating and assigning someone/thing as male or female.
• Gender also has multiple meanings. One of them is someone's status as a man or woman (or non-binary).

In the case of your quotes:

• It wouldn't be "choose the sex of the child" either. It would be "sex the child" as in perform the act of evaluating and assigning the child's sex (usually at birth on the birth certificate).
• "The opposite sex" and "the opposite gender" could both be accurate depending on the intended meaning, the same with "the division between the sexes" and "the division between the genders."
• You are right, however, that animals don't have "gender" by any definition (except perhaps the anthroopmorphised characters of animals, such as Mickey Mouse, because they may have status as a man or woman within their invented world).

Language is always changing and I have enjoyed studying some of its history and function. It's fascinating.

[WindAtMyBack]

Gender and sex have always been used interchangeably. They mean the same thing. If a significant number of people use a word in a certain way, then it is automatically correct. Those two words have been used interchangeably for ages by vast numbers of people, so they are correct.

[Asker]

The words have not always been used interchangeably, they have two completely different meanings. The word gender only started being used in popular culture in the last 20 years, but that doesn't make it correct. It's like the word surreal, another one everyone uses wrong. Why do we bother to become educated if none of this matters? No wonder our country is overrun by people who do anything a politician says to do without question.

[Anonymous]

We do use the word gender correctly. It's you nutters who don't. The words 'gender' and 'sex' were synonymous in the English language for centuries. It was only in recent decades that a small group of freak decided to hijack the word gender and try to change its definition to support their gender ideology. But the sane majority has not accepted the new definition, and never will. So you can rant all you want about using the word "correctly", but it won't change things for the sane majority.

[Asker]

According to the OED, which has been around for centuries, they have always been two distinct words.

[Opinion Owner]

They are two distinct words that have always been used interchangeably. I work in IT and until recently all databases I've ever worked with that stored demographic data about people used the word gender, not sex, to indicate whether a person is male or female. Why? Because it always meant the same thing as sex. There was never a reason to make a distinction between the two until recently, but only in the minds of gender ideologs.

[Anonymous]

It's you who uses the term incorrectly, not us. We use it correctly, the way it always was intended to be used, interchangeably with the word sex.

Look, I understand your frustration that the entire English speaking world won't just accept the desire among a small, vocal group of people pushing an absurd gender ideology, but that's a you problem. It's not my problem, it's not the problem of the vast majority of people who understand the true meaning of the word gender. It's only a problem for people like you, and you're just going to have to accept that.

[LiamJHayden]

The words were completely synonymous in that context till the end of WWII. The term "gender role" was introduced by John Money, he of Reimer Twin infamy, less than 60 years ago. There is also gender in language as male, female, and neuter, again reinforcing the previous understanding. That many people would not subscribe to the updated definition makes sense.

[NamerOfStars]

We HAVE learned- you haven't. Or more likely, given your age, you have, but then set it aside to suit your political ends. The words are synonyms. They always have been.

[Asker]

Again, not according to the OED, since 1884, through today.

[DrPepper12]

I dont care. They're essentially interchangeable and only super sensitive snowflaked would get upset over it

[Anonymous]

Gender is correct, sex is just for the underclasses