Merriam Webster dictionary adds definition of “female”

[Justdontgetit000]

Apologies if this has already been posted.

Article about this

The new definition says:

“Having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”

Screenshot of the MW definition

So they don't actually define female at all.

They do, if you read the entry:

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/female

The first definition they give is:

of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs

But I think they'd do well to delete the 'oppostie of male' part as it's not really helpful at all!

Just looked at the entry too. The ‘opposite of male’ nonsense is under a section describing female as an adjective, which comes first in the entry, then secondary is female as a noun and has the definition of bearing eggs as in post above. This is blowing my mind, the way words can just be changed, so distressing really.

And next update some want?

C) women- this term is no longer to be used when describing women doing things that woman do.
It can be used at all times when describing people born male who say they are women

I've seen this I think they've updated male too with a similar description - an identity opposite of female.

They are both wrong! Female and male are to do with a person's sex. So should be 'someone with xx chromosomes' or predominantly xx chromosomes'.

Because you have to be boorishly pedantic so it seems to say something we all bloody know.

This!

You have one job, Webster - one job….. 😑

I checked and they also added this to the definition of "male":

“Having a gender identity that is the opposite of female.”

So I guess it's more of an oval definition than a circular one.

So male is the norm and female is not the norm?
I’m wondering at the age of the people who are in charge of this “dictionary”. It’s actually laughable.

😂 so actually they can’t provide a definition?! What’s the point of a dictionary?

Do they do the same with boy/girl?

And yet Merriam Webster... a bull is a male bovine, esp an adult uncastrated male domestic bovine or an adult male of various large animals?.....

Don't fancy being the one checking a bull's inner feelz....

I think their definition is possibly adult uncastrated male domestic bovine bodily waste discharged through the anus.

Having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.

How did they define male?

As stated by a pp, it seems they don't actually know what a dictionary is.

Oh ffs:

Male: having a gender identity that is the opposite of female.

and “gender identity” is:

a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female

So I guess some females by this definition have an “internal sense” of being the opposite of the opposite of the opposite of the opposite of….

TRAs really do have the opposite of a Midas touch, don’t they?

To play devil's advocate - the point of a dictionary is recording usage, no matter the underlying realities (that's what an encyclopedia does).

Which does raise the question whether usage really has changed to such an extent, other than a few extremists with their own nade-up language, and whether Webster can shire that up with actual quantitative data.

To play devil's advocate - the point of a dictionary is recording usage, no matter the underlying realities (that's what an encyclopedia does).

To record widespread usage. Not to record the ideas of a politically captured bunch of crazies.

Most people haven't got a fucking clue what a "gender identity" is. Not even those who proclaim to have one.

The definition makes no sense it's a minority view held by a minority of people who can't explain their views.

Great. Women noun adult human factory second.

They're calling us human factories, now?! I thought 'womb carrier' was bad.

They don't just randomly decide what definitions to include. It's based on actual usage in places like the media or surveys.

It's not a scientific or technical dictionary that gives a scientific or technical definition.

This is why you should never try and prove a point by referring to the dictionary, it's not intended to be used that way.

I thought it was all a spectrum, how can there be opposites? /s

‘Gender identity’ is a load of stereotypical bullshit, and the people with a ‘gender identity’ know this, which makes it impossible for them to say what their ‘gender identity’ is, because when they come out with it, it sounds so silly. ‘I must be a woman, not a man, because I like long hair, make-up, dresses’, yada, yada….

And it’s how you end up with these non-words and non-definitions - because the minute a gender devotee tried to define gender, the whole stereotypical ridiculousness is exposed.

So they’re left with ‘man’: not a woman, and ‘woman’: not man - exposing ‘gender’ for what it is. Which is nothing.

You will never see a gender devotee define gender, or even be able to explain what their own gender identity is. Never.

@GrumpyPanda
To play devil's advocate - the point of a dictionary is recording usage, no matter the underlying realities (that's what an encyclopedia does).

That wasn't really my point. A dictionary should also describe the meanings of a word. Each definition should be complete in itself. 'Woman (n) adult, human female' is a classic example. One of the rules of a dictionary definition it to avoid circularity. The Merriam Webster definitions for 'woman' and 'man' fail dismally in this respect.