To wish people wouldn’t say gender when they mean sex?

[AngeloMysterioso]

I am utterly convinced that half the reason this whole gender thing grew roots in the first place was because people who were too squeamish to utter the word sex just used gender instead. Now we have a situation where the two words have very different and distinct meanings which are having a great impact on women’s social and political position and people still continue to conflate the two. On the first page of the pregnancy board alone there are three threads discussing baby’s gender. I don’t want to be that killjoy who goes round correcting people but it’s really starting to grate!

Anyone else?

Until fairly recently they WERE interchangeable.

Yes this is what I thought too. Up until a few years ago, as far as I was concerned, gender meant the sex you were born.

I have to say that, these days, I genuinely don't know, at times, what people mean when they say 'woman', 'man' and so on. Given the debate on trans issues and the implications it has, IMO, for everyone, particularly women and girls, I think we need to be as accurate as we can.

Even on bloody Emma Willis: Delivering Babies...

“The couple already have a little girl. It’s down to Dad to announce the gender of their newest addition.”

I literally just yelled “SEX!!!” at my TV. Think my neighbours might have been a bit surprised!

I literally just yelled “SEX!!!” at my TV. Think my neighbours might have been a bit surprised!

I think a sign that this topic has got a bit out of hand in your mind...

I always forget which one I'm supposed to use

TBH what you can and cant say, should be aware of, should be aware of but arent allowed an opinion on changes so much and so frequently I stopped listening so its hardly surprising.

Twenty years or so ago (1), we were being advised in application forms etc to use gender to mean M/L, rather than sex, because that was regarded as to do with who you wanted sex with. Does this mean that nowadays the correct term has gone back to being "sex"?

(1) ie once society got more or less comfortable with homosexuality, but before society started to get to grips with transgender and the rest.

Couldn't care less, I I think the whole "it undermines women" is rubbish and people just want a reason to be outraged and actually use another stick to beat trans down.

Yeah, that’s exactly what it’s about. Go to the top of the class.

Doesn't help that the word sex has two meanings, too.

1) What your chromosomes are.
2) The act of shagging."

When a form offers a choice of male or female I tend to assume it is asking what my chromosomes are.
Not a menu.

Surely the confusing of the two terms is only really important if you actually think that gender is a real and separate thing. Rather than a bunch of stereotypes that shouldn't be used to define anyone. I don't particularly care whether people say a baby is of female sex or gender. Either way, it means she's a girl. It's not a comment about whether she prefers trucks or tutus.

“Everyone knows what everyone means and it’s only the pedants on MN who give a shit.”

When they are planning policy and practice around domestic violence, does it matter to you that if categorised by gender, Transwomen who commit violence against women are categorised as women?

That crimes committed by Transwomen will be recorded as committed by women?

(I am not, of course, accusing Trans people / Transwomen of being more criminal than anyone else - it has been shown that crime amongst Trans people accords with their biological profile, not their gender. )

Seems to be a lot of people going out of their way to post just to say they don't care.

Makes me wonder, if they really don't care, why get so get up at the people who really do care?

(I couldn't give a flying fuck about, say, Harry Potter so completely ignore threads asking about the best time to go to the exhibition thing)