Woman: Difference between revisions

== Etymology and terminology ==

The word ''girl'' originally meant "young person of either sex" in English;<ref>Used in Middle English from c. 1300, meaning 'a child of either sex, a young person'.  Its derivation is uncertain, perhaps from an Old English word which has not survived: another theory is that it developed from Old English 'gyrela', meaning 'dress, apparel': or was a diminutive form of a borrowing from another West Germanic Language. (Middle Low German has Gör, Göre, meaning 'girl or small child'.)  "girl, n.". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 13 September 2013</ref> it was only around the beginning of the 16th century that it came to mean specifically a ''female'' child.<ref>By late 14th century a distinction was arising between female children, often called  'gay girls' – and male, or 'knave girls' -: a1375  William of Palerne  (1867) l. 816  ' Whan þe gaye gerles were in-to þe gardin come, Faire floures þei founde.' ('When the gay girls came into the garden, Fair flowers they found.') By the 16th century, the unsupported word had begun to mean specifically a female:  1546  J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. x. sig. D,  'The boy thy husbande, and thou the gyrle his wyfe.'  The usage meaning 'child of either sex' survived much longer in Irish English. "girl, n.". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 13 September 2013</ref> The term ''girl'' is sometimes  used colloquially to refer to a young or unmarried woman; however, during the early 1970s, feminists challenged such use because the use of the word to refer to a fully grown woman may cause offence. In particular, previously common terms such as ''office girl'' are no longer widely used. Conversely, in certain cultures which link family honor with female virginity, the word ''girl'' (or its equivalent in other languages) is still used to refer to a never-married woman; in this sense it is used in a fashion roughly analogous to the more-or-less obsolete English ''maid'' or ''maiden''.

[[File:Venus symbol.svg|thumb|200px|The Venus symbol or female [[gender symbols|gender symbol]].]]

This comes from a set of symbols that were first used to denote the effective sex of plants (i.e. sex of individual in a given crossbreed, since most plants are hermaphroditic) by naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1751.<ref name= Stearn>{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|s2cid=87030547|title=The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology|journal=Taxon|date=May 1962 |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=109–113 |jstor=1217734 |doi=10.2307/1217734 |quote= The origin of these symbols has long been of interest to scholars. Probably none now accepts the interpretation of Scaliger that {{char|♂}} represents the shield and spear of Mars and {{char|♀}} Venus's looking glass.}}</ref> The male and female symbols are still used in scientific publications to indicate the sex of an individual, for example of a patient.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Zhigang |first=Zhigang |date=25 September 2009 |title=A HIV-1 heterosexual transmission chain in Guangzhou, China: a molecular epidemiological study |journal=Virology Journal |publisher=BioMed Central |volume=6 |issue=148 |pages=Figure 1 |doi=10.1186/1743-422X-6-148 |pmid=19778458 |pmc=2761389 |quote=(Mars male gender symbol) indicates male; (female Venus gender symbol) indicates female|display-authors=etal}}</ref> Joseph Justus Scaliger speculated that the male symbol is associated with the Mars, god of war because it resembles a shield and spear; and that the female symbol is associated with Venus, goddess of beauty because it resembles a bronze mirror with a handle.<ref>{{Citation|last=Taylor|first=Robert B.|chapter=Now and Future Tales|date=2016 |pages=293–310 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-29053-9 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-29055-3_12 |title=White Coat Tales}}</ref> Later scholars dismiss this as fanciful,<ref name=Stearn />The visual equivalent of a backronym, preferring "the conclusion of the French classical scholar Claude de Saumaise (Salmasius, 1588-1683) that these symbols [...] are derived from contractions in Greek script of the Greek names of the planets".<ref name=Stearn />''Thouros'' (Mars) was abbreviated as θρ, and ''Phosphoros'' (Venus) by Φ, in handwriting.<ref>H W Renkema, ''Oorsprong, beteekenis en toepassing van de in de botanie gebuikelijke teekens ter aanduiding van het geslacht en den levensduur'', in: Jeswiet J, ed., ''Gedenkboek J Valckenier Suringar. Wageningen: Nederlandsche Dendrologische Vereeniging'', 1942: 96-108.</ref><ref name=Stearn />

== Cisgender women ==

A few of the physical characteristics of a cisgender woman often include:

Patriarchy oppresses and devalues all forms of womanhood and femininity, not only of cisgender women, but also of trans women, called [[transmisogyny]]. Julia Serano coined this word for her trans-feminist book, ''Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity'' (2007). Patriarchy sees trans women as a threat that could undermine its power and rigidity. One feature of a trans-misogynistic culture is that by far, the most kinds of hate speech and slurs used against trans people are those used specifically against trans women. Violence against and murder of trans people also, by far, most commonly targets trans women, especially trans women of colour. The [[Transgender Day of Remembrance]] gives a memorial to the many trans people who are murdered each year around the world. These are nearly all trans women of colour.

Some cultures that recognize(d) male-to-female spectrum gender roles include the Ethiopian Maale people ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#ashtime|Ashtime]]), the Madagascaran Sakalava ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#sekrata|Sekrata]]), the Lakota ([[gender-variant identities worldwide##winkte|Winkte]]), the Navajo ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Nadleehi and Dilbaa|Nadleehi]]), the Zapotec ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Muxe|Muxe]]), many south Asian countries ([[Hijra]]), Oman ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Xanith|Xanith]]), Nepal ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Metis|Metis]]), Turkey ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Köçek|Köçek]]), Italy ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Femminello|Femminello]]) Myanmar ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Acault|Acault]]), Samoa ([[Fa'afafine]]), Maori ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Whakawahine and Wakatane|Whakawahine]]), much of ancient Europe ([[gender-variant identities worldwide#Gallae|Gallae]]), and [[gender-variant identities worldwide|many others]]. Historically, these male-to-female spectrum roles have been made of some people who were analogous to modern, Western ideas of trans women, as well as some people who are not so analogous to that, such as feminine gay men, or nonbinary people who were AMAB.

Some notable people who identify as nonbinary who also use female, girl, or woman in the description of their gender identity include:  

* Singer-songwriter and comedian [[Left at London]] ([[she/her]],<ref>{{cite tweet|user=LeftAtLondon|number=1160275504760360960|date=August 10, 2019|title=IM NON-BINARY. BUT STILL REFER TO ME AS SHE/HER. (UNLESS U REFER TO EVERYBODY AS THEY/THEM. THEN IM FINE WITH THEY THEM PRONOUNS.) LOVE YOU GUYS}}</ref> b. 1996) - nonbinary trans woman<ref>{{cite tweet|user=LeftAtLondon|number=1160277010813349888|date=August 10, 2019|title=Nonbinary trans woman to be specific}}</ref>

* Actor and drag performer [[Kate Rose Wilburn]] ([[they/them]]<ref>[https://www.instagram.com/katerosewilburn/ Instagram bio], retrieved 18 June 2020</ref>) - nonbinary transgender woman<ref>[https://www.instagram.com/p/CBFCyEIgPFJ/ Instagram post], 5 June 2020</ref>

==See also==