Qu’est-ce que le genre ?

Abstract

Gender is a word borrowed by the English from the French gendre in the 14th century; it had then a main meaning: class of nouns, which requires agreements, in English masculine, feminine and neuter. Gender had also a minor meaning, largely forgotten: “state of being male or female”. In 1955, John Money gives a new life to this second meaning in speaking of gender as the social status according to the sex, disclosed by the role, intimately felt in the identity. Genre had in French the same grammatical meaning as in English, but also an important polysemy; it will be enriched by the new meaning gender as identity and status in harmony or not with the natal biological sex. This term allows to consider the possible dissociation between the biological reality of sex and the social status in case of intersexuation. There is an inflation of the use of term gender, which loses the original meaning given by Money and comes to designate a psychedelic reality superior to biological reality. It is strange that nobody quotes the original text of Money. Does Money feels sulphur now? Transsexuals, transgenders, neo-feminists who declare themselves queer, lesbian and not women have different demands. It is impossible to change the sex of a human being, but one can build status ad hoc to reduce sufferings. To speak clearly can help to keep one's senses and succeed in providing a consensus thanks to a constructive dialogue more tolerant from each side.