word usage - Can "female"/"male" be insulting?


If not used when misgendering, making unasked for assumptions about gender or in a hostile context, can usage of the words female/male be insulting?


More specifically: can a non-native speaker be accidentally insulting by using female/male describing human genders, for example in a internet discussion.


Background: In my native language Swedish, the term used for animals' genders differs from the one most commonly used to describe human gender. If you would use the words for animal gender for a human it would either sound a bit weird/unusual/humorous or insulting/demeaning depending on context. I used Google Translate for:



  1. Swedish (the terms used for animals)->

  2. English (got female/male)->

  3. Swedish (got the terms used for humans).


I could interpret this as English lacks the distinction but human-specific gender-words exist in English as well: woman/man. A quick websearch show me a lot of usage of female/male for humans so clearly it can be used without being odd/insulting. In order to avoid being accidentally insulting in the future: are there times when I should not use female/male for humans?


Edit: Found an example of someone (seemingly) offended by "female" in the comments to this question (Look for user33333) Word a male can use to refer to a female that is not old or young (girl/lady/woman)



Answer



I think the issue in your link is referring to people with the terms "a female/females" or "a male/males," used as nouns rather than as adjectives. This can sound somewhat clinical or reductive.


If you Google the term "feeemales" (which represents a stereotypical pronunciation of this) you'll find people generally use it when trying to parody misogynists/clueless sexists.


The words "male/female" are generally not taken as offensive when used as adjectives to refer to body parts, conditions or ideas associated with human men/women. (Examples: "the male/female body," "male/female voice," "male/female depression")


When referring directly to men or women, there is sometimes a choice between using male/female as adjectives and using man/woman as noun adjuncts. Using a noun seems to be more common for women than for men (see this question for more details: Female adjective re job title). But in general, using the adjectives male and female should not be offensive, provided that there is a reason for mentioning the person's sex at all: phrases like male authors and female authors are commonly used.


I also found a Reddit post by someone who claims they find the word "feeemales" "repulsive." Not a good source for grammatical analysis of the word, so just ignore all of that, but it's a source that shows that this attitude you've noticed does exist.


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