this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
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The word "gender" was a linguistic thing long before it was ever used to describe people. The latter use case didn't really exist before the 1940s.
If anything, it's the 'people definition' that ought to have to change term names, it's the newcomer, lol.
I just want pile onto this yeah
Gender was originally used to describe words.
At some point it was also used as a (probably less common than it is now) synonym for sex.
It was chosen to describe the non-physical concept we now call gender exactly because the original use to describe words doesn't have anything to do with genitalia -- and the intent was that "gender" would refer only to what's between one's ears and "sex" only to what's between one's legs.