7
votes
Accepted
What does "queer" really mean these days?
This answer is based almost entirely on my own experience as a gay man in his late twenties in the UK, so sorry for the lack of references. You will see many other interpretations of the terms you've ...
- 888
7
votes
Gender neutral alternative to Sir/Madam
Interestingly enough being in the military, especially saluting officers we say "Good morning, Sir" or "Good morning, Ma'am".
But at the same time I was thinking the other day about people of ...
- 107
7
votes
Is there a hidden meaning to the name "Coraline Cake" from the suffragette cook book?
The Coraline corset had boning made from a plant-based material that was supposedly more flexible than whalebone. Since the article specifically mentions that Dr. Stockham was anti-corset this was ...
- 22.9k
6
votes
Accepted
What is the gender-neutral way of saying “gentlemen’s agreement”?
A verbal agreement is a phrase you could use; an informal agreement would be another.
Wikipedia defines it as follows:
A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally ...
- 16.3k
6
votes
Should we use "man" or "woman" to describe someone who identifies with female, but with male sexual physical appearance?
In the English language, as in others, any word depends on context: a word is not something like a physical object, so it is never linked entirely to a definite physical property or being. Similarly, ...
5
votes
A less sexist alternative to 'mansplain'?
I believe condescend a gender-neutral way to substitute mansplain; I think it is also a much more appropriate and professional word, and far less loaded. (While modern writers and speakers use ...
- 193
5
votes
Accepted
What does "mansplaining" mean?
The following extract from “The Guardian” dated January 2018 notes that the neologism “mansplain” has finally entered the OED, after about ten years from its earliest usages. Interenstly the OED ...
- 68.1k
5
votes
Is Amanda Gorman a poet or a poetess?
Basically, poetess is dated. Poet is the common standard irrespective of one's gender.
In English, over time, the gender-specific nature of many nouns started to be questioned. Is it necessary to ...
4
votes
Is there a hidden meaning to the name "Coraline Cake" from the suffragette cook book?
It looks like a variant of the word coralline "Resembling coral, especially in color" (AHD). My guess is that that the name refers to the cake's color: based on the ingredients that you mentioned, it ...
- 84.5k
4
votes
Proper usage of trans-theory terms
No, but that's already been answered here. To summarize: sex is biological, gender is cultural.
Most people have the same sex and gender, which is why a distinction isn't always made.
Gender is ...
- 67.3k
4
votes
Gender neutral alternative to Sir/Madam
There are few gender neutral honorifics in English that are going to sound completely natural in a conversational context, especially a call center.
If unwilling to work around the matter as others ...
- 422
4
votes
Heteronormative for nuclear family structure?
I'd just call that a traditional family. Easy peasy.
- 654
4
votes
serviceman / servicewoman / serviceperson etc (US)
SALUTE TO MILITARY SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN
service men and women
I want to begin by acknowledging not only my fellow veterans here
today, but service men and women around the world—men and women who
...
- 15.3k
3
votes
What is the gender-neutral way of saying “gentlemen’s agreement”?
Resurrecting this as I've had to come up with a good alternative. I've been in discussions that happened to be 3 men, and so using "gentleman's agreement" was not horribly out of line. But I ...
- 139
3
votes
Is there a word for "extreme feminism"?
If you don't like the word "extreme feminism," I'd suggest radical feminism or ultrafeminism.
Militant feminism may be more controversial but suitable in certain contexts. A militant ideology or ...
- 261
3
votes
Is there a gender-neutral alternative to workmanlike suitable for use in legal context?
As remarkl says, in legal contexts the meaning of words has been defined by precedent. Find out how that word has been defined in the jurisdiction in question, and then use that definition instead of ...
- 22.7k
3
votes
How can one include all people in one's written and spoken language irrespective of one's gender identity(s)?
I agree with John Lawler's comment: use everyone or anyone. They are inclusive and simple -- so simple that they don't need a dictionary definition in an ELU answer, and so inclusive that they don't ...
- 26.3k
2
votes
Gender neutral alternative to Sir/Madam
In spoken English for answering a call in a call center, you can avoid a gendered address simply by using repectful tone of voice and slightly formal phrasing:
"Thank you for your call. How may ...
2
votes
Is there a gender-neutral alternative to workmanlike suitable for use in legal context?
I have been using "professional" or "efficient" in place of "workmanlike" for at least 20 years. Contract attorney here.
2
votes
What would be another term for a person in their 50s and 60s other than "boomer" or "Gen-Xer"?
Are you looking for another term for boomers or a term for people ages 50-60? These two categories overlap now, but they won’t as time goes on.
If the latter, neutral (albeit obscure) terms are:
...
- 67.3k
1
vote
What would be another term for a person in their 50s and 60s other than "boomer" or "Gen-Xer"?
There isn't going to be a term for every arbitrary range of ages, but a conventional division of a person's life would identify people between youth and agedness as middle-aged. As Collins COBUILD ...
- 43.5k
1
vote
Is there a politically correct way to speak about reproductive health, justice, etc., which doesn't unnecessarily gender the issue?
The answer to your question is primarily going to be one of opinion. So, I hesitate to answer it.
However, speaking as a medical professional, the workaround being used to avoid the linguistic ...
- 22.6k
1
vote
Accepted
Pair like man/woman but clearly for sex not gender
Standard usage in the English language does not distinguish these concepts. To the vast majority of people, "sex" and "gender" are synonyms, and as such there is no common convention as to whether ...
- 630
1
vote
Pair like man/woman but clearly for sex not gender
polar pair of terms that clearly refers to organisms with a specific
sex
You don't specify species, so I will broaden this beyond humans. Most polar pairs of terms for non-human species are ...
- 817
1
vote
Is there a gender-neutral alternative to workmanlike suitable for use in legal context?
In practice, if you ever need to sue for relief because the party did not live up to this provision of the contract, you are going to spend a lot of time (and therefore money) arguing over what ...
- 3,179
1
vote
What does "mansplaining" mean?
Perhaps the extreme example of mansplaining is for a man to interject himself into a conversation on Subject S among several women, and pontificate on Subject S at a level that might be suitable for a ...
- 26.3k
1
vote
What does "mansplaining" mean?
Although women are most often the targets, I think that the central quality of "mansplaining" is explaining something to somebody that they already know and in fact know better than the mansplainer ...
- 2,285
1
vote
What does "mansplaining" mean?
No, responding with "Women do not understand football" is not part of mansplaining. It might accompany mansplaining, but usually the judgment on the hearer is not explicit.
Mansplaining is not ...
- 77.8k
1
vote
What does "queer" really mean these days?
The Green’s Dictionary of Slang suggests it is mainly used referring to male homosexual:
Queer:
[1910s+] a homosexual, usually male, occasionally female.
but it may refer also to heterosexual ...
- 68.1k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible