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Original poster

To think that sex and gender are the same thing?

319 replies

StNinian · 19/04/2023 20:01

I don't buy into the distinction many people make between the two terms nowadays. "Gender" was never a word used to describe how one feels/identifies behaves until recently. It has long been synonymous with "sex". Just curious to see if anyone else agrees with me.

OP posts:
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12
Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:00

It's only in English that people have two words...

limes6 · 19/04/2023 21:02

StNinian · 19/04/2023 20:15

Webster's Dictionary 1828 2. A sex, male or female.

The Oxford Etymological Dictionary of the English Language of 1882 : Kind, breed, sex

To be fair you could have mentioned you were born in the 1800s in your OP as it might have influenced responses...

Stillcountingbeans · 19/04/2023 21:02

StNinian · 19/04/2023 20:01

I don't buy into the distinction many people make between the two terms nowadays. "Gender" was never a word used to describe how one feels/identifies behaves until recently. It has long been synonymous with "sex". Just curious to see if anyone else agrees with me.

So if a man puts on a frock and believes he is a woman, has he changed his sex? Has he changed his gender?
If the word gender means the same as sex, then the answer is either 'yes' or 'no' to both questions.

Which do you think it is?

Meandfour · 19/04/2023 21:03

DOBARDAN · 19/04/2023 20:26

Sex and gender are not the same thing,
Sex is immutable, gender is a social construct and can change,
I find it very annoying when the word 'gender' is used, when 'sex' should be,

Me too. Although we were recently invited to a gender reveal and imagine many people would be slightly horrified to be invited to a sex reveal.
The easiest way around this is to do away with ridiculous “gender reveals”

Meandfour · 19/04/2023 21:03

limes6 · 19/04/2023 21:02

To be fair you could have mentioned you were born in the 1800s in your OP as it might have influenced responses...

Show quote history

😂😂😂

Caramc20 · 19/04/2023 21:05

I always use them interchangeably and will continue to do so. 70+ genders is just a load of BS made up by people with too much time on their hands imo.

Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:05

Gender in standard English means the state of being male or female. Which is biology. Which is medicine. Plus whatever the French, Spanish, Germans etc do with their language

Exactly. In German the word Gender/Geschlecht refers to whether someone or something is male or female.

The word sex literally means sex/intercourse!

Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:06

And new parents have Gender Reveal Parties... not sex ones

WhyThatsDelightful · 19/04/2023 21:07

Oxford English Dictionary, the one used by GCSE English Language exams.

To think that sex and gender are the same thing?
To think that sex and gender are the same thing?
Sensitive content
To think that sex and gender are the same thing?
Butitsnotfunnyisititsserious · 19/04/2023 21:08

BMW6 · 19/04/2023 20:37

A man can dress as a woman (well, what he thinks a woman should wear 🙄)
His gender is feminine. His sex is male.

Whatever label is used he's still and always a man in a frock.

Sums it up

icanneverthinkofnc · 19/04/2023 21:08

I was going to say what is the point of 'gender' reveal parties then.
apart from grabby excuse for a party

RoundedToast · 19/04/2023 21:08

For me, you are born female and girl/ woman or male and boy /man.

You can dress any way you want or have whatever cosmetic surgery you want, but that does not change sex or gender for me.

It’s a shame some people feel they can’t say who they are & then wear / present what they want.

stargirl1701 · 19/04/2023 21:09

Sex was used as the norm. Americans began to use gender so they didn't have to say sex. Thank those bloody Puritans that founded a land freaked out by simple mammalian biology.

JudgeRudy · 19/04/2023 21:09

nocoolnamesleft · 19/04/2023 20:07

Sex is biology. Gender is how the patriarchy systematically oppresses those whose sex is female.

That's not gender

Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:10

A man can dress as a woman (well, what he thinks a woman should wear 🙄)
His gender is feminine.

No, he is male, regardless of how he dresses

Choconut · 19/04/2023 21:10

I think gender for a long time was pretty much synonymous with sex - there were the 'gender benders' like David Bowie back in the 60's and 70's but they were still considered male - just a bit 'out there' and bending the 'rules'. No one thought that they'd actually changed gender or sex.

With the rise of the trans ideology though the difference between sex and gender has become hugely important in protecting women. I think it is women who have been forced to make the divide IMO. The trans movement would like the waters to be muddied, where gender and sex are considered synonymous so that if you change your gender then you also change your sex.

Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:11

*For me, you are born female and girl/ woman or male and boy /man.

You can dress any way you want or have whatever cosmetic surgery you want, but that does not change sex or gender for me.*

That's exactly how I see things.

Blaueblumen · 19/04/2023 21:13

The trans movement would like the waters to be muddied, where gender and sex are considered synonymous so that if you change your gender then you also change your sex.

But nobody can actually 'change' their gender. You are born male or female!

borntobequiet · 19/04/2023 21:13

It has long been synonymous with "sex".

No it hasn’t. When I was at school it only applied to nouns, mostly in ancient or foreign languages.

Ashenputtel · 19/04/2023 21:14

icanneverthinkofnc · 19/04/2023 21:08

I was going to say what is the point of 'gender' reveal parties then.
apart from grabby excuse for a party

So people who buy into sexist garbage can start buying 'gendered' clothes for the baby shower.
It's rigid sexist stereotypes meets capitalism. That's why it's colour coded in pink and blue.

You wouldn't believe the huffiness I got when I decided not to find out the sex of my first child as people were clearly miffed they had to buy colours other than pink or blue. The horror.

People like to start putting boys and girls in their box as soon as possible.

WhyThatsDelightful · 19/04/2023 21:15

Written by humanities professionals. Reads very professional and is not based on standard English definitions. So it’s magazine grade useful. It’s competing with Jeremy Clarkson articles for scientific status.

Which is why the humanities professionals at the ONS have made a right mess of the census. Which we’ve paid for, and it’s now full of “stuff”, not data we can plan the administration of our resources with. It’s excellent at supporting various political objectives. And for humanities professionals’ career progression.

I’d prefer that we got what we needed in terms of useful data to improve the quality of life for people in our country. But I’m a minority on this.

WhyThatsDelightful · 19/04/2023 21:15

Reply to ONS link earlier in the thread 👆

bellinisurge · 19/04/2023 21:16

They are not synonyms of each other. They mean two different things. Sex is biological reality, gender is just personality traits

NewNovember · 19/04/2023 21:16

MaireadMcSweeney · 19/04/2023 20:19

How can they be the same thing when people can apparently have a male body but a female gender? They are two opposing things.

Because they can't