Cambridge dictionary under heavy criticism after updating woman, man’s definition
The The Cambridge Dictionary has received a lot of negative feedback after updating it’s definition of woman and man.
According to the Daily Mail, the dictionary revised its definition of “woman” to include anyone who “identifies as female.”
The word can now be defined as “an adult who lives and identifies as female even though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth” according to a new definition in the online dictionary.
Examples of usage include “she was the first trans woman elected to a national office” and “Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth.”
According to the report, the definition of “man” has also been changed to cover people who had a “different sex at birth.”
Man” is defined as “an adult human being” and “the human race.” The updated additional definition of “man” adds that it can also imply “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
The following examples are supplied to users: “Mark is a trans man (= a man said to be female when they were born)” Additionally, “their doctor encouraged them to live as a man for a while before undergoing surgical transition”
Merriam-Webster added a new supplementary definition of “female” earlier this year, defining it as “having a gender identity that is the opposite of male.”
Toby Young, the founder of the Free Speech Union, responded to the new development by saying the dictionary compilers had gone down a “slippery slope.”
“It’s disappointing to see identity politics creeping into the way a dictionary defines words,’ he said.
“The claim that these supplementary definitions of “woman” and “man” are based on “carefully studied usage patterns” doesn’t seem plausible. Who, apart from a few woke activists, define “woman” and “man” this way?
“I suspect this new definition has been introduced as a result of lobbying by political activists, a slippery slope that no dictionary should go down.”
The term “woman” should have included a disclaimer, according to Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education, because the meaning is debatable.
“Since it’s a contested definition, the dictionary should state that it’s a contested definition.
“The danger is it will give a green light to what’s going on in primary schools where parents are already worried that children are becoming confused from an early age.
“This will fuel the debate and cause further unhappiness among children who will question their own identities.’ The update would give the new description legitimacy as dictionary definitions are regarded as ‘holy writ’, he added.
But Dr. Jane Hamlin, President of The Beaumont Society, a support group for transgender and non-binary people, called the development “good news.”
She said: ‘There has been so much disinformation and rubbish written about definitions of “man” and “woman” lately but these definitions are clear, concise and correct. Congratulations to Cambridge Dictionary team.’ The dictionary’s main entry for woman remains an ‘adult female human being’.
