Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!gateway From: mjm@ahimsa.intel.COM (Marjorie Panditji) Newsgroups: soc.feminism Subject: synonyms Message-ID: Date: 23 May 91 04:13:32 GMT Lines: 23 Approved: tittle@ics.uci.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: zola.ics.uci.edu Someone commented on inappropriate synonyms for woman in a thesaurus (such as baggage and gold digger). Alex Matulich writes: > Degrading or not, the function of a thesaurus is to provide synonyms for > words, and regrettably, those synonyms you found are indeed words used to > describe women on occasion. ... > (If one is talking about women who *are* gold-diggers, > and such people do exist, then why not use the term?) I am a vegetarian. Should vegetarian be a synonym for woman? Some men are rapists. Should rapist be a synonym for man? In my opinion, the answer to both these questions is no. Similarly, the meaning of gold digger is quite different from the meaning of woman (gold diggers are not necessarily women, and not all women are gold diggers). I don't believe that people are saying the term should not be used. They are saying that these terms are inappropriate as synonyms. -- Marjorie Panditji mjm@ahimsa.intel.com -or- uunet!intelhf!ahimsa!mjm