The Cambridge Dictionary has revised its definitions of “woman” and “man” to include persons who identify as a gender other than their biological sex. Regardless of their sex at birth, everyone who “identifies as female” or “identifies as male” is now included in the new definitions.
A man, according to the dictionary now, is “an adult who lives and identifies as male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth”, while a woman is “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth”.
The dictionary provided two instances in addition to the definition in order to clarify the meanings. Examples for “man” are as follows: “Mark is a trans man (= a man who was said to be female when they were born)” and “Their doctor encouraged them to live as a man for a while before undergoing surgical transition”.
For ‘woman’, the examples are: “She was the first trans woman elected to a national office” and “Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth”.
Before these changes, Merriam-Webster Dictionary in July this year included the following additional definition of “female” as
“having a gender identity that is the opposite of male”.
A Cambridge Dictionary spokesperson explained these modifications by saying, “Our editors made this addition to the entry for woman in October. They carefully studied usage patterns of the word woman and concluded that this definition is one that learners of English should be aware of to support their understanding of how the language is used. The first definition at the entry for woman remains unchanged and continues to be ‘an adult female human being’.”
The changes drew rapid online criticism, with American-Canadian political analyst Steven Crowder tweeting, “Remember, if you can control the language, you can control the population.”
Another Twitter user posted, “Try and tell me they’re not trying to erase women. Cambridge dictionary has changed the definition of a woman. This cannot be accepted. We will not be erased. Woman = adult human female. Not someone who ‘identifies as female”.
Author-Abednego Abaidoo
