Cambridge Dictionary Changes Meaning Of 'Woman' And 'Man'

[Flanker7]

This is a bit of a tangent, sorry.

 

The definition of 'man', 'woman' and 'disabled' in the sports world is a mess. The various sports governing bodies are all going their separate ways and there are disputes left,right and centre.

 

Rugby have made a definition of woman on the grounds of health and safety. 

 

For starters I think there should be no men's category.  Just an 'open' available to everyone. 

[Guest]

8 minutes ago, Flanker7 said:

... For starters I think there should be no men's category.  Just an 'open' available to everyone. 

Given the innate advantages of strength and speed that men have over women, what do you think the consequence for women would be of having just an 'open' category? 

[despritdan]

I thought that language was supposed to help us communicate clearly and effectively, with words like female, woman, she and her being used to describe people born with XX chromosomes and words like male, man, he and his used to describe people born with XY chromosomes, the difference between them being obvious when they're naked. Now it turns out we can choose whether we're male or female; it's like the old Woody Allen joke about the man who has several sex change operations because they couldn't come up with anything he liked. It will be confusing for young children to be told by their parents who are explaining the difference between mummys and daddys to them that mummys can be daddys and daddys can be mummys, depending on which side of the bed they get out of.

 

This country seems to be using various classic novels as blueprints for how society develops. First we became like the conformist society described in '1984' with political correctness being the tyrant rather than a fictitious character known as Big Brother. Everybody now has to have exactly the same opinions and attitudes with anybody who doesn't being 'cancelled', even if they're 83 years old and haven't yet grasped the sudden changes. It's enforced by a government spending £8 billion on diversity training which is like a genteel version of the brainwashing that Winston Smith and Julia are subjected to at the end of the novel to ensure they conform.

 

Now, we're in 'Alice in Wonderland' territory where men can turn into women and women into men whilst parents with children who want an exotic pet for Christmas can buy them a hamster and tell them it's and elephant. The rise of the wokes reminds me of a classic sci-fi film from 1956 called 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' in which humans are replaced by alien duplicates which grow from seed pods from outer space. They look and sound like the originals but are devoid of freedom thought or emotions. Maybe that's what's happening and we can only wait our turn to be abducted and replaced by alien doppelgangers, all thinking the same thoughts and saying the same things or maybe there's a new woke virus that hasn't been identified and for which there's no cure.

[cressida]

I wonder what the satire shows would have thought of it all,  would they have sent it up?

[despritdan]

19 minutes ago, cressida said:

I wonder what the satire shows would have thought of it all,  would they have sent it up?

They wouldn't need to, it's self-parodying.

[petemcewan]

despritdan.

 

At the end of the "Body Snatchers , the chief protagonist stands in the middle of a lane of traffic and shouts, " They are here. They are here". And everybody ignores  him.

This is what we find.

'

[despritdan]

1 hour ago, petemcewan said:

despritdan.

 

At the end of the "Body Snatchers , the chief protagonist stands in the middle of a lane of traffic and shouts, " They are here. They are here". And everybody ignores  him.

This is what we find.

'

I remember reading that the original ending had to be rewritten because audiences found it too disturbing and the new version ended like this:

 

 Finally believing Bennell's story, Dr. Hill alerts the police to block the roads in and out of Santa Mira; the film ends with Bennell relieved as Hill calls the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

[Flanker7]

4 hours ago, Hecate said:

Given the innate advantages of strength and speed that men have over women, what do you think the consequence for women would be of having just an 'open' category? 

I don't mean that there should be no other category's. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

To answer your question obviously it would mean that women would rarely feature in 'open' events.

 

However, there are sports where women have had a chance --- Golf, F1, Equestrian. 

[Al Bundy]

17 hours ago, Mister M said:

I agree with the change.

My thoughts are that there are plenty of things to get angry about in the world. This isn't one of them.

Absolutely this.

 

 

 

It's incredibly funny though.

[dan2802]