It would be helpful if you chose to educate by linking to the definitions you are using instead of just chastising for someone not knowing the terminology you are using. The Wikipedia article for gender mentions that the terms sex and gender for biological gender/sex have flip flopped multiple times in the last 30 years.
HN is supposed to be a place where people learn, not an anger pit like the rest of the web.
From that perspective, you also read emotion on my emotionless text. I was also just stating what I believe the definition is, with no more or less information than the comment I responded to.
In the English language they are: The term has been used to distinguish male and female for over 200 years, and increasingly so for the last 50 years. Of course we have proof of this.
Historically, the distinction between sex, ascribed gender, and gender identity hasn't been made until very recently, with “sex” (in the sense of male vs. female) and “gender” being used as synonyms, with “gender” often preferred over “sex” simply to avoid confusion with (or just evocation of) the other (intercourse) sense of “sex”; “masculine” and “feminine” weren't used for most of history for either ascribed gender or gender identity as traits of people, but for something closer to gender expression (adherence to sex stereotypes.)
(“Gender” referring to a grammatical trait, where “masculine” and “feminine” are among the possible values is an older concept, sure, but that's not really particularly relevant.)
Exactly. I would add that, among people who are not squeamish about the word “sex”, it is the preferred term for distinguishing male and female, while “gender” is more useful in discussing the grammar of romance languages.
