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From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Masculine vs Feminine netnews postings
Message-ID: <1592@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 25-Aug-85 17:07:47 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.1592
Posted: Sun Aug 25 17:07:47 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Aug-85 21:50:39 EDT
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Organization: Whatever we're calling ourselves this week
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>>	But in what way does this qualify as "masculine"
>>	except that you say so?

> This has nothing to do with what _I_ say.  It's what society says.
> How do you know that the numeral "4" is pronounced "four" and not "five"?
> Just because you say so?	:-)    [SILBERMANN]

"4" is equivalent to "four" by the process of definition of numbers and
words and such.  As such it is non-ambivalent (within what Bertrand Russell
expounded upon at length).

On the other hand, masculine and feminine have definitions too, and those
explicit definitions are "of or like or representative of a male/female"
(as appropriate).  (My dictionary uses the term "characteristic of or
appropriate or peculiar to women" for feminine, and "having qualities
appropriate to a man" for masculine !!!)  Who is society to determine
what is "appropriate" for or "peculiar to" a given gender?  It's like
saying that certain behavior among one gender/group or another is
"unnatural"; if it happens, how can it be called "unnatural"?  If a
woman or a man engages in a certain behavior, how can it be called
"inappropriate" or "not representative of" that person's gender.
-- 
Popular consensus says that reality is based on popular consensus.
						Rich Rosen   pyuxd!rlr