Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.08 10/3/83; site psuvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!akgua!psuvax!simon From: simon@psuvax.UUCP (Janos Simon) Newsgroups: net.women,net.nlang Subject: Re: The power of words -- German generic pronouns Message-ID: <781@psuvax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 29-Feb-84 13:22:08 EST Article-I.D.: psuvax.781 Posted: Wed Feb 29 13:22:08 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 2-Mar-84 06:21:36 EST References: <5766@decwrl.UUCP> <1003@ut-sally.UUCP> Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ. Lines: 13 There seems to be a recurrent confusion between gender and sex in these discussions. There is nothing sexist in gender concordance in languages with gender (as Spanish, German, etc.). If you have to use a pronoun, it has to agree with the noun: if the noun is not explicit, the gender is masculine (in these languages). This does not make the object MALE, only makes it of the masculine gender (any more than the reference >she< to a ship makes her of the female sex). In English, since gender has mostly disappeared, gender and sex get often confused, but in other languages this is not the case. In particular, in Portuguese (a language with gender I am confortable pontificating about), saying "O medico" (masc. the doctor) does not mean or evoke the image of a male doctor - it is the generic doctor, as "doctor" is in English. One would have to say later whether the doctor was male or not.