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Is "female" offensive? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by Trincapinones@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I am not a native English speaker and I have sometimes referred to people as male and female (as that is what I have been taught) but I have received some backlash in some cases, especially for the word "female", is there some negative thought in the word which I am unaware of?

I don't know if this is the best place to ask, if it's not appropriate I have no problem to delete it ^^

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[–] triplenadir@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

the only examples here which don't sound completely gross are the ones where you misunderstood the part of speech..

[–] jsomae@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

which ones did I misunderstand the part of speech?

"female-only" is an adjective phrase where "female" is a noun. Compare "lion-only zoo." Adjectives don't work here (× big-only zoo)

[–] triplenadir@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

A female changing room (noun adjunct)

Noun adjunct is a noun functioning as an adjective.

“A male character has no stats difference compared to a female.” (Probably an adjective but arguably not)

"female [character]" definitely an adjective

“female-only” is an adjective phrase where “female” is a noun. Compare “lion-only zoo.” Adjectives don’t work here (× big-only zoo)

Yes "female-only" sounds gross.

[–] jsomae@lemmy.ml 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

A noun adjunct is a noun functioning as an adjective. By contrast, in "a female scientist," female is an adjective and not a noun adjunct.

To me, "female-only spaces" sounds like conventional English and I much prefer it to "woman-only" which sounds gross to me. Google NGrams agrees.

I agree with you regarding the character example.