If gender is a social construct, what about age?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think gender is a social construct. I also think age is not a construct either.

+1. Try harder OP, dumb question.

This question is obviously geared to those who DO believe gender is a social construct.

I think this question is geared to people who believe that gender and sex are synonyms and want yet another opportunity to complain about transgender people on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t people try to do this all the time, though not in a legal capacity? Face lifts, hair implants, hair dye, fillers. . .

Yes, but the difference is that people may try to look younger than their age, but they are not trying to have society officially recognize them as something they aren't. Many women for decades have dressed in very masculine styles, yet were not trying to have others recognize them as a male or a "non-binary", now they expect others to put aside actual facts in order to humor them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sex is not a social construction. Gender is.

Similarly, age is not a social construction, but youth/middle-age/old age etc. are. That's why we have sayings like "you're only as old as you feel" or "youth is wasted on the young" or "50 is the new 40" or "if you're 55 or better..."

Well put.

It's not well put, because this distinction you make between gender and sex is silly. The word gender has been used for decades and it's always been a polite euphemism for sex. Back in the 80's no one used the word gender to decipher how masculine/feminine one considered themselves to be.

No, it wasn't. It was a word you used for grammar. For example, nouns in Latin have gender.

Anyway, so what? Language changes. Words that used to mean one thing now mean something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sex is not a social construction. Gender is.

Similarly, age is not a social construction, but youth/middle-age/old age etc. are. That's why we have sayings like "you're only as old as you feel" or "youth is wasted on the young" or "50 is the new 40" or "if you're 55 or better..."

Well put.

It's not well put, because this distinction you make between gender and sex is silly. The word gender has been used for decades and it's always been a polite euphemism for sex. Back in the 80's no one used the word gender to decipher how masculine/feminine one considered themselves to be.

No, it wasn't. It was a word you used for grammar. For example, nouns in Latin have gender.

Anyway, so what? Language changes. Words that used to mean one thing now mean something else.

Look sweetie, I remember the 80's well and yes the term gender was used as a synonym for biological sex. It was not reserved for nouns in French class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t people try to do this all the time, though not in a legal capacity? Face lifts, hair implants, hair dye, fillers. . .

Yes, but the difference is that people may try to look younger than their age, but they are not trying to have society officially recognize them as something they aren't. Many women for decades have dressed in very masculine styles, yet were not trying to have others recognize them as a male or a "non-binary", now they expect others to put aside actual facts in order to humor them.

Many people who were born as women lived as women in masculine clothes. Some people born as women lived as men (in masculine clothes). For example:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tipton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sex is not a social construction. Gender is.

Similarly, age is not a social construction, but youth/middle-age/old age etc. are. That's why we have sayings like "you're only as old as you feel" or "youth is wasted on the young" or "50 is the new 40" or "if you're 55 or better..."

Well put.

It's not well put, because this distinction you make between gender and sex is silly. The word gender has been used for decades and it's always been a polite euphemism for sex. Back in the 80's no one used the word gender to decipher how masculine/feminine one considered themselves to be.

They did, as a cursory Google on the topic would tell you. It may not have been common in your circles but it was in other circles and people were writing academic papers on it. The concept was widely acknowledged and taught by the time I entered college in the 90s.

Not that any of that matters, because "They didn't do it in the 80s" isn't an argument for or against anything. As PP said, you have a certain number of years of age, but what it means to be "old" or "young" - how you feel, what is expected of you, how people treat you, where you may go and what you may do, etc, - is entirely cultural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Look sweetie, I remember the 80's well and yes the term gender was used as a synonym for biological sex. It was not reserved for nouns in French class.

I remember the 80s too. I even remember the 70s! When one might have said, "That's queer", meaning, "That's odd." I wouldn't say that today, would you? Similarly, if one had said at the time, "My girlfriend is amazing", people would have expected the girlfriend to be a record-breaking sprinter or some such.

Objecting to words changing their meaning is like objecting to the tide coming in.

[Anonymous]

OP, you've been watching the show Younger, haven't you?

[Anonymous]

I love telling people my age because it’s always followed by holy crap, you look 30. OP celebrate your 30 looking self! If you need validity, try telling people your actual age and enjoy the compliments girl!

[Anonymous]

Here come the social justice warriors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't argue time. Days. Weeks. Months. Years. There's no dispute.

If a person says "I don't feel like I'm a man, or woman, or binary at all," how and why would you argue with them?

I wouldn’t. There is no point in arguing with mentality ill people. Just give them a wide berth.

[Anonymous]

People always tell me I look way younger than my age, but it seems demeaning like I'm not getting the respect I deserve. Age is not only biological but also how you act and how you feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here come the social justice warriors

I still can’t figure out how this is an effective insult.

It’s like someone from 100 years ago saying “here come the suffragettes!” Or someone 200 years ago saying “here come the abolitionists!” It’s only insulting if you think votes for women and being against slavery are bad. An actual SJW is just going to shrug and be like, “yep, that’s me.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sex is not a social construction. Gender is.

Similarly, age is not a social construction, but youth/middle-age/old age etc. are. That's why we have sayings like "you're only as old as you feel" or "youth is wasted on the young" or "50 is the new 40" or "if you're 55 or better..."

Well put.

It's not well put, because this distinction you make between gender and sex is silly. The word gender has been used for decades and it's always been a polite euphemism for sex. Back in the 80's no one used the word gender to decipher how masculine/feminine one considered themselves to be.

Citation please

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sex is not a social construction. Gender is.

Similarly, age is not a social construction, but youth/middle-age/old age etc. are. That's why we have sayings like "you're only as old as you feel" or "youth is wasted on the young" or "50 is the new 40" or "if you're 55 or better..."

Well put.

It's not well put, because this distinction you make between gender and sex is silly. The word gender has been used for decades and it's always been a polite euphemism for sex. Back in the 80's no one used the word gender to decipher how masculine/feminine one considered themselves to be.

No, it wasn't. It was a word you used for grammar. For example, nouns in Latin have gender.

Anyway, so what? Language changes. Words that used to mean one thing now mean something else.

Agree. Awesome used to mean someone was filled with awe at such a phenomenal deed. Now awesome is a cliche.