Cambridge Dictionary has come under fire from conservatives on social media for changing the definitions of the words “man” and “woman” to include people who identify as a gender other than their biological sex.
The definition of woman, which previously represented a long-held view of sex, now says that a woman is “an adult who lives and identifies as a woman, even though she was assigned a different gender at birth.”
Likewise, a man is now defined as “an adult who lives and identifies as male despite being assigned a different gender at birth.”
This change was opposed by many who argued that it was harmful and wrong to redefine society’s categories of sex and gender.
“Cambridge Dictionary just dropped a new definition of ‘woman,'” wrote Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute.
Rufo also pointed out that the dictionary used the pronoun “they” rather than “he” to describe the subject.
“Note that the dictionary writers say ‘*they* may have been’. They were powerless to write ‘he may have been’ because they knew they were lying. That’s the point,” he tweeted. .
“Giving linguistic territory to the radical left. What could go wrong? ” wrote conservative columnist Rita Panahi.
Daily Caller writer Mary Rooke wrote: “Traitors of the truth. Cambridge Dictionary is only the latest. If we don’t stop them from destroying women, our civilization [not going to make it]”.
British social commentator Adam Brooks questioned whether women were happy with the changes.
“Wow @CambridgeWords definition of woman is amazing, how did we get here? Surely women aren’t happy about it?” she wrote.
According to Dan McLough, a senior writer at National Review, the change is Orwellian. “1984 was not meant to be a guide to what it should be,” he tweeted.
Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, tweeted: “The war on women, update…”
The Cambridge Dictionary’s repositioning of the words “feminine” and “masculine” reflects a trend on the left to reject the once universal use of these categories. In April, Fox News reported that multiple agencies of the Biden administration asked “What is a Woman?” He published a report that he could not answer the question.
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