SEX is the correct word

Oo thanks for discussing this - it was me who started it on the other thread.

I think the word sex has been taken over so much by the media. ‘Sexual intercourse’ is old fashioned. Having sex, sexy, sex sells, oversexed are all common words/phrases now. It is too ingrained in culture. As someone else said, sex reveal parties sound wrong. If someone just said ‘Sex?’ I can’t think of another word where the meaning could be so different depending on who is saying it!

Gender used to be useful on forms but now I cross it off and write the word sex, as gender is too ambiguous. It makes data unreliable.

It would be nice to reclaim the word gender but in the dictionary it says about social constructs so I expect that’s lost.

On anonymous lesson feedback forms where the word sex is used, a significant number of pupils would write yes or no. No idea how many were mucking about. Some younger pupils would be so closed off to the word sex (meaning male or female) as it’s a rude/objectionable word.

I don’t have an answer but I think the way the words have changed leads to problems so it is interesting discussing it.

I agree but nobody wants to say ‘sex reveal party’ and the like do they?

In which case, maybe that's a clue you shouldn't be having one? I think it's a weird idea, and I doubt I'm in a minority here.

If you're doing it, it's either because you are thinking of "gender" and some sort of role for the child, in which case you shouldn't be, or it's because the sex is in some way important enough to have a special party for (why?), in which case you should be fine with talking about sex.

In more general cases, I think getting used to saying "sex" more isn't that hard. Things get smoother with usage, which is why I approve of Maya's blunt naming of "Sex Matters". (Although I'm still sad about its first MN thread "New group-sex matters" having its title changed).

"Sex pay gap" is a bit weird too, but you can have "sexed" or "sex-based".

Ideally, we would stop using "sex" to mean "intercourse", get rid of the sniggering that way. That's an fairly recent usage. Wouldn't have had this problem a couple of centuries back.

Flat you are not alone. I listen to lots of interviews and podcasts via headphones and every time I hear gender instead of sex I say its "SEX, Sex is the word you're looking for". With noise cancelling headphones and the doors and windows open the neighbours must think I'm demented.

"Gender based violence", is a particular pet hate, it implies that the performance of sex stereotypes makes women more vulnerable to male violence. We've campaigned for years to stop judges and barristers using what women were wearing to excuse male sexual violence so it feels like a retrograde step to meekly accept the term "gender" based violence.

I agree but nobody wants to say ‘sex reveal party’ and the like do they?

I'm dreadful. Whenever I see the word gender used incorrectly, I always say "sex" out loud. Bit embarrassing; I once did it at dd's school.