Let's ban these words

vq it is more PC than my old one because it is younger.

The other one was old and doddery and used to forget things - however, it did know how to spell much better than the new one.

I hug trees, I love touching and hugging trees.
DH thinks I am off my trolley.
However, relax petra, I will never be in power

I ❤️ trees and will hug them if I want too. But what's that to with the price of bread ????? ??

Tree huggers? What have they to do with banning words?

Please don't tar all us tree huggers with the same brush.

Heaven save us from the tree huggers. Thank god they will never be in power.

I totally agree with you MissAdventure. Some people are just looking to be offended by something or other.

Is your new PC less PC or more PC than your old PC?

KEEP UP?
I blame my new PC

I just can't keep about what is U or Non-U never mind what is PC and non-PC

I am with you Miss Adventure!

I am very wary of banning words - I know there are some offensive words which most people don't use but I don't see how the words feminine or masculine could be offensive. Once you start banning things it become easier and easier to ban others and where will that end.

If a word is banned (or even just avoided) then it risks becoming yet another term to be used as a weapon by those who want to hurt. Better to keep on using it but without it implying any criticism.

I don't think masculinity and feminity, although each can vary a lot and both can overlap, again to varying extents, are social constructs. There is research happening currently that is producing plenty of evidence to falsify that idea.

Gender differences are not all down to stereotypes and noticing common gender behavioural differences is not necessarily prejudiced. Some of it is simply observational.

Besides all that, banning words is a mug's game.

At one time I would have agreed almost entirely with your post, pensionpat, but I have changed my mind based on scientific evidence.

I'm not really sure what you're driving at pensionpat.
Masculine and feminine are not offensive words in themselves and men can display behaviours that may traditionally have been considered feminine e.g. 'caring' and women can display behaviours that traditionally have been considered masculine e.g. 'strong'.
There's nothing wrong with that and indeed most people would probably think that women being strong and men being caring was a good thing.
It's only a problem if young people feel pressurised into conforming often to peer pressure - young women to have cosmetic surgery for example, or young men to join knife-wielding gangs.

Its not a minefield for me. I intend to use common sense, and not be dictated to by people who claim to be liberal! That's my two pence worth!
I think if people can't find anything more solid to be offended about then its on them, not me.

It's a minefield isn't it, I agree common sense should be applied and stereotyping avoided. It's so easy to be guilty of the latter especially for those of us of advanced years.

Yes, we are. Do we now want another list of ones we can't say?
I've been watching quite a lot of videos which now state that there are 73 genders!
Apparently its all to do with what a person identifies as
Hence, its offensive to use a masculine or feminine pronoun. Not only that, but a person can choose to identify as something different each day!

I take your point about banning words. Perhaps I mean avoiding them. Imagine how someone who is less masculine/feminine than they think they are expected to be for their gender. Language is very powerful. We are careful of many words that would have once been acceptable.

I think the danger here is that in attempt to be very liberal and all embracing, we are starting to revert to a time when certain words or ideas are shunned, just like they were years ago.
The only difference is the type of constraints have changed.

Crossed posts mawbroon

pensionpat The words masculine and feminine are fine. They are scientific words about different sets of chromosomes
No, they are not. The scientific words are male and female which describe physical biological differences.
I think many people want to identify with a gender - look at the number of people who want to change their gender and go to great lengths to do so.
I agree that stereotypes shouldn't be perpetuated if it means that people's opportunities are limited, or they are forced into roles they are not comfortable with.
But actually banning words is a bit 1984-ish, isn't it? Isn't it better to discuss things openly - and how can you do that without words to describe what you're discussing?

I am afraid I am strongly against banning words, but all in favour of using them accurately and descriptively in the correct context.
For instance I think it is nonsense to ban the use of "he" or "she" at was it Oxford university, and presumably refer to eveybody as "they" (or "I it"?) in case it causes offence .
A dose of healthy common sense would not come amiss.

I think most of show gender driven behaviour though..
I consider myself fairly feminine; not because society says I should be, but because I just am.