Reflecting on the recent changes in language

Well, my personal memory doesn't extend back further than the mid-20th century, so no, I can't myself recall examples from before then! Growing up in mid-century South Africa though (a socially conservative society where euphemisms were paticularly rife) the word gender would invariably be the word on any form, including official forms. Never sex.

Gender was most certainly extensively used as a "polite" alternative word to sex on forms, the PP who said it wasn't is talking twaddle (maybe very young?). I have come across it all my life.

So you distinctly recall its use before mid-20th century? Can you show some examples?

And even after that, it crept in as an Americanism, slowly, and reluctantly, because it was seen as a wrong (and American). The educated sorts (like the teacher above) would know that gender didn't mean sex, but really meant either grammar or some sort of social studies thing.

In formal situations - like census forms:

https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/learning-hub/census/resources/census-forms/

"Sex".

I can imagine "gender" showing up in maybe the 1970s or 1980s on some sort of photocopied form on a school run off by an individual without any sort of editorial input, but then so would all manner of grammatical or spelling errors.

I'd not saying it was totally unknown - it is there in the dictionary as "colloquial" - it just wasn't accepted as standard English.

And I imagine the increasing (mis) use as a sex synonym was linked to its increasing use for sex-based things in academia - people picked up that it was now being used formally in a sort of sex-based context, and people inferred that it could be used directly as a sex euphemism.

I hadn't anticipated quite so much emphasis on ferns, TBH.

I have seen forms with Gender : Male, Female, Non-Binary, Other

I appreciate the vague attempt to be inclusive or whatnot but what the actual flip is that?

Gender was most certainly extensively used as a "polite" alternative word to sex on forms, the PP who said it wasn't is talking twaddle (maybe very young?). I have come across it all my life. And it still is in places. I had occasion to have to fill a form for a South African firm about a year ago and it gave me two options for "gender", M or F. No question for "sex".

I recall a biology teacher saying to us in the late 80s (in the UK) that "sex is an activity, gender is a state". I remember it really clearly because I found "sex is an activity" a really racy thing for a teacher to say!

I get he was wrong but it was definitely a thing in the UK too. Until very recently, from my elderly standpoint, gender was either about your french vocab or it meant the same as sex.

In the mid-20th century, a terminological distinction in modern English (known as the sex and gender distinction) between biological sex and gender began to develop in the academic areas of psychology, sexology, and feminism.]

Before the mid-20th century, it was uncommon to use the word gender to refer to anything but grammatical categories.]

In the West, in the 1970s, feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender.

The distinction between gender and sex is made by most contemporary social scientists in Western countries, behavioural scientists and biologists, many legal systems and government bodies, and intergovernmental agencies such as the WHO.

ie even in the 1970s and onwards the use of the word gender was distinctive not about sex.

But then of course it was only a decade later that queer academics overturned the use of the word gender as put forward by feminists to be about social constructs, and through gender studies gradually moved the use of the word to be about social stereotypes and to become a substitute or the same as the word sex.

It was in America. Use of "gender" for sex in formal situations there has been common for decades.

This was shown in the film about Ruth Bader Ginsburg where to make a secretary who seem embarrassed to have to type the word sex, was allowed to use the word gender.

So would be ironic that because one young woman got flustered what was to become the historic battle (not yet complete) for sex equality has helped, for the wrong reasons, the TRAs perpetuate the tranferability of sex and gender.

Gender has and still is used interchangeably with the word sex and yes people feel embarrassed to say the word sex, especially in mixed company. Why wouldn't they? Why is it something to sneer at?

I must have imagined my childhood, then.

Maybe have been in some circles, but in terms of new reporting etc., it wasn't, I dont think it was in public use, for legal purposes etc..

And of course not at all with the same use of the word gender as promoted by TRAs.

I recall "Gender" being used instead of "Sex" to stop schoolboys writing "Yes, please." on forms. Polite in that sense.

Sex. Giggle, giggle, giggle.

Snort.

Gender was never a "polite" substitute for the word sex

I must have imagined my childhood, then.

Gender was never a "polite" substitute for the word sex.

It was in America. Use of "gender" for sex in formal situations there has been common for decades.

But I agree with you that it really wasn't common in the UK. It was formally incorrect enough to be the sort of thing grammar pedants would call you out on until quite recently. (And now it's Mumsnet pedants). I'm sure it happened sometimes, like any sort of grammar error (or hypercorrection), but the more official the document, the less likely it would be.

(I can certainly imagine Hyacinth Bucket probably used it...)

Gender was never a "polite" substitute for the word sex.

I dont know where anyone gets this idea from.

The UK was able to have and pass a Sex Discrimination Act and no one taking part in the campaign, drafting the text or debating in the HoC had a fainting fit about using the word sex.

The best way of trying to find when it changed is to look back through news reports.

And it clearly shows that it started when the students educated post the queer take over of women's studies became gender studies, started to work in the media. And later this use of word gender when it should be sex, was part of the political strategy of TRAs.

It’s easy to see then why gender is still used as a so called polite word for sex, 2010 still recent in language evolution terms. Like I’ve been asked the gender of my dog in forms! I honestly think I would have carried on oblivious if I hadnt had my eyes opened.

People have forgotten (or are too young to remember) when 'gender' was a more polite substitute for 'sex'. Official forms would ask for your gender. And there were only two options: M or F. When I've said that on SM, I've often been taken to task, called a liar, etc. But it's true.

I should add, the 90s counts for me as 'recent'! 😃

It is very interesting to see how the idea of gender went from 'synonym for sex for Americans people that don't want to use the word sex' to 'social expectations and stereotypes based on sex' to 'social expectations and stereotypes based on sex' + 'omg I think I'm cat gender because I like sleeping a lot'

gender as a polite term for sex has been around for ages

Not really ages. It started arising mid 20th century, and is something of an Americanism.

Might have been used earlier poetically or comically, but not as a valid formal synonym or euphemism.

Even in that 90s dictionary it's only there as "colloquial".

Thanks for sharing these, I find language and its evolution really interesting. There must have been a point with ‘gender’ when the use and meaning started to change, to where we are now. Like the use of ‘gay’ expanded and it’s rarely used now to mean jolly or similar. It puts my back up now though if I’m asked about my gender, the way things are today, as the conflation no longer works like it seemed to years ago.

This reminds me of Winston treasuring old books in 1984!