A poll for the gents on reading

[netmouse]

Please only participate in this poll if you self-identify as having a male gender.
I know it's hard to remember what-all you've read recently, but please try.

UPDATE: for anthologies, please count them as the gender of the majority of the authors.
FURTHER UPDATE: Please don't eliminate books from reporting in this poll based on their topic or genre, then comment afterward to tell me how the stats would be different if you hadn't done that. The poll is not intended to be aimed only at fiction, or SF - the question at the end is an add-on. The goal of the poll is to survey the genders of the authors of ANY BOOKS you read in the past 2 months.


[Poll #1450130]

Comments

Re: "Gender"

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

I do pay considerable attention to words, I just feel that language should be vibrant and evolve, rather than be locked in a glass case to look at -- or worse, be pruned back to what it was centuries ago.

I was also raised by anthropologists, who taught me the difference between "sex" and "gender," and the value of being able to distinguish between the two when discussing the place of individuals in society. When I make the distinction, it isn't political correctness, it's precision.

You're free to try to change modern usages, but you risk looking like a nut when you try to correct other people who are using the word correctly.

And yes, I do of course know what my handle means.

Re: "Gender"

[glenn-glazer.livejournal.com]

Niltze.

"I do pay considerable attention to words, I just feel that language should be vibrant and evolve, rather than be locked in a glass case to look at -- or worse, be pruned back to what it was centuries ago."

Actually, in general, I agree with this. Where we part, perhaps, is that I do not believe all change is good simply because it is change.

---

"When I make the distinction, it isn't political correctness, it's precision."

Then please demonstrate for us two sentences. One in which 'sex' cannot be used and one in which 'gender' cannot be used.

---

"You're free to try to change modern usages, but you risk looking like a nut..."

Oh, heck, I'm a fan. I gave up on worrying about looking like a nut decades ago. :)

---

"And yes, I do of course know what my handle means."

I by no means intended to imply you didn't, please accept my apology if you took it that way. I was defining both for the larger audience and by way of introducing the focus on words.

Re: "Gender"

[tlatoani.livejournal.com]

Actually, in general, I agree with this. Where we part, perhaps, is that I do not believe all change is good simply because it is change.

I don't either, but I do believe that fighting against linguistic change is (a) usually futile and (b) kind of arrogant. And sometimes it's also (c) inappropriate.

I don't think you'd argue, for example, that I shouldn't use the term "firewall" to describe the IT security concept, since that isn't its original definition.


Then please demonstrate for us two sentences. One in which 'sex' cannot be used and one in which 'gender' cannot be used.

A sentence where "sex" cannot be used: A good example would be the sentence in Anne's original post which triggered this discussion. Since she was trying to limit the scope to readers who identify as male, rather than those who are biologically male, using "sex" would not have gotten her the result she wanted. She would want a F to M transgendered person to answer this quiz, for example, but not an M to F one. The sentence would still have made sense with "sex," but it would have gotten her a different sample of people.

A sentence where "gender" cannot be used: "What gender is your snake?"