*sigh*
I am going to post this one more time and then I give up... LOL... Been making the same point for oh so many years and it just gets lost...
Anyhoo:
"Woman
From the Old English "Wyfmon," meaning, "wife.""
http://www.westegg.com/etymology/
I dunno ... the roots of words matter to me... It's why in so many ways I love to reclaim the words like Crone... which they believe comes from early dutch for "old ewe"... To Crone means to "pick out and reject the old ewes from a flock" according to the OED. Subsequently applied in a derogatory sense to old females (and in the patriarchal way.. old women). To ME this is a reclaimable word.... or Hag (oh, Hag is MARVELOUS!), "1....an evil spirit, demon, or infernal being in female form; applied in early use to the Furies, Harpies, etc.... 2.... a witch.." OED. There are so many entries on Hag!
My friend Mary was so into reclaiming these words... and made magic out of them. They came alive with her....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chazz
SEX (biology) = female/male, woman/man, girl/boy (nouns)
GENDER (a cultural construct based on sex) = feminine/masculine, womanly/manly, girlish/boyish (adjectives)
|