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From: ted@teldata.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Animal Sexist Language
Message-ID: <313@teldata.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 19-Apr-84 17:04:51 EST
Article-I.D.: teldata.313
Posted: Thu Apr 19 17:04:51 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Apr-84 07:04:12 EST
Organization: Teltone Corp., Kirkland, WA
Lines: 31

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In our language we have common names for most species of animals i.e. horse,
cow, pig, etc. and we have names for the male or female of those species.
I have constructed a table illustrating a few examples.

Common name     Female          Male
(Genderless     Name            Name

duck            duck            drake
goose           goose           gander
cow             cow             bull
man             woman           man
falcon          falcon          tercil(sp)

I know this list is incomplete and there may be other (less common) terms
that apply so please don't flame or send mail about these examples.

My point is:
The use of 'man' as a word, prefix, or suffix does not always suggest a
male human being and the intended meaning is to be taken from context.
Unfortunately some people (primarily feminists) have a sexist attitude
and automatically assume any use of 'man' excludes female humans. This
is a misunderstanding on their part showing their ignorance of the English
language.

I have on my property a large puddle that is visited regularly by my
neighbor's 'ducks'.  Should I be restrained from calling this body of water
a 'duckpond' because half the creatures swimming in it are drakes?

Ted Becker