Word: genderization
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...letter which appeared in the Nov. 16th Crimson in response to current feminist activities in Church 174 stated that no one should object to the unmarkedness of the masculine gender in English since it is "simply a feature of grammar." The facts presented in the letter were correct, but the authors missed the point. The women in the Divinity School course were raising the more serious question of a possible relationship between this unmarkedness and male-dominated social structure, and that is the question to which the linguists should have addressed themselves. The answer is by no means obvious...
...matter of gender, in some cases the feminine is unmarked, in other cases the masculine. The feminine goose is unmarked--geese can be all male, all female, or of mixed sex, but ganders are all male. On the other hand the masculine lion is unmarked--contrast the possible ranges of meaning of lions and lionesses...
...fact that the masculine is the unmarked gender in English (or that the feminine is unmarked in the language of the Tunica Indians) is simply a feature of grammar. It is unlikely to be an impediment to any change in the patterns of the sexual division of labor toward which our society may wish to evolve. There is really no cause for anxiety or pronoun-envy on the part of those seeking such changes...
...smash the alienated family unit . . . We promise these things until choice do us part." For the second week in April, there is a self-defense karate lesson: "To use this right-foot snap-kick . . ." Nature hints: "Some fish reverse more than just sex roles-they actually consume the other gender." Nonviolent put-off for a masher: "You can have my body when I'm through with...
Although very feminine and pretty, Bourke-White liked to be treated on assignment like one of the boys. Once she complained that her male colleagues were "somewhat overprotective when there was shooting." But she was also smart enough to realize that her gender could be an asset: "At important meetings, a woman is not as likely to be thrown out as a man." Demanding and visionary, in 1954 she badgered Henry Luce into promising that she would be LIFE'S first photographer to go to the moon. "Even at the peak of her career," recalled Eisenstaedt, "she was willing...