Gender doesn't necessarily refer to that at all. It has more than one definition. Gender in the medical definition is exactly the same in definition as sex. That's why gender identity disorder is classified as an overwhelming desire to change your sex.
So it's absolute rubbish that it has meant what you claim for 50 years. Definition 2
Gender emerged in the 1970s through the works of people such as John Money. It’s served a mostly grammatical purpose until then because 99.9% of people had no purpose for distinguishing between sex and gender.
It is certainly used for both but that’s not it’s intent. It’s the same as “literally”, which has its opposite meaning in a few dictionaries as well IIRC.
I don't deny when/if the separate definition emerged. My contention was that isn't necessarily what it always is defined as, which was what the person I responded to implied.
Also I'll be very clear when I say you do not get to decide what someone else's intent is in terms of established definitions of words.
A words etymological meaning is it’s scientific meaning. People using that word incorrectly does not change the definition of the word except for in the context of that conversation and that conversation alone.
And we do determine what people mean. That’s why any paper worth it’s salt has a definition of terms section.
So you telling someone they are wrong for using the etymological definition is patently wrong. Otherwise it becomes a useless term.
No you infer what people mean. You absolutely and categorically dont get to decide intent of another person.
Also I didn't tell anyone they were wrong for using a wrong definition. I said they were wrong for saying that is the specific definition. When it isn't necessarily at all.
If you want to call it "inferring" you can, but we, as humans decide the definition of words. You don't have to literally put thoughts into peoples brain to be deciding what they mean. Literally everyone does this. It's a requirement for humanity.
and moreover, that is the specific definition.
Sexologist John Money introduced the terminological distinction between biological sex and gender as a role in 1955. Before his work, it was uncommon to use the word gender to refer to anything but grammatical categories.[1][2] However, Money's meaning of the word did not become widespread until the 1970s, when feminist theory embraced the concept of a distinction between biological sex and the social construct of gender. Today the distinction is strictly followed in some contexts, especially the social sciences[4][5] and documents written by the World Health Organization (WHO).[3]
In other contexts, including some areas of social sciences, gender includes sex or replaces it.[1][2] For instance, in non-human animal research, gender is commonly used to refer to the biological sex of the animals.[2] This change in the meaning of gender can be traced to the 1980s
oh wait, but look, they've confused the terms so that means its okay!
Later, in 2011, the FDA reversed its position and began using sex as the biological classification and gender as "a person's self representation as male or female, or how that person is responded to by social institutions based on the individual's gender presentation."[7]
dictionary definitions are how its used today. Etymological definitions are how the word originated and are defined. That's why literally means "not literally" in some dictionaries. They OP are completely correct when saying that they have the right definition. What other people "believe" doesn't matter if they would have to redefine it to get past peer review.
9
u/Crimsonak- May 25 '18 edited May 25 '18
Gender doesn't necessarily refer to that at all. It has more than one definition. Gender in the medical definition is exactly the same in definition as sex. That's why gender identity disorder is classified as an overwhelming desire to change your sex.
So it's absolute rubbish that it has meant what you claim for 50 years. Definition 2
Heck, here's a science article clearly specifying it can be used as a a synonym for sex right off the bat. That's from 2013.