http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aArticles+tag%3aGenders&tag=Articles,Genders&orTags=0Search results for 'tag:Articles tag:Genders' matching tags 'Articles' and 'Genders'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3164.27388)http://www.englishforums.com/English/CorrectionOfAnEssay/grjpw/post.htmTue, 22 Apr 2008 21:05:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:503990learner_of_englishHello,<br /><br />I&#39;m trying to write Essays to improve my English level cause I want to study in the United Kingdom.&nbsp; But I always have some problems in grammar.<br /><br />So I would like a kind English speaker correct the big mistakes in the grammar of my sentences (not the content). I&#39;ll be very grateful if you can help me <img src="http://www.englishforums.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><br /><br />Thanks a lot ! <br /><br />&nbsp;The topic is : &quot;<b>According to press articles, the US is a more masculine country than France. To what extent do you believe this is true ?</b>&quot;&nbsp;</p><p><span>Through History, we’ve seen that American people are proud and want to manage the world. Meanwhile, French people know how to live and they have a more collectivism mentality. According to several studies, the US is a more “masculine” country than France. We’re about to study if this is a reality or not.</span></p> <p><span>1°/ First, we can compare educational values between these two countries.</span></p><p><span>The American people educational values are rather funded on individualism.</span></p> <p><span>Each person must show his value to be recognized, the merit is more important than the <i>link formed (relationship)</i> with others. Pupils and students have to be independent, self-confident, their teacher assists them in work but they don’t give solutions. They also have to be competitive.</span></p> <p><span>For instance, intercollegiate sporting events are promoted in American football and basketball. These competitions attract not only young people but all sport fans.</span></p><p><span>In France, educational values are rather funded on collectivism.</span></p> <p><span>The ties between people are privileged, it doesn’t matter if a person <i>undergoes many failures </i>his family and his friends will always support him. Devotion in relationships is essential because people don’t stand to be alone.</span></p> <p><span>As students, we’re used to partying several times by week, we enter in student associations to share our ideals with others and we think that is the victory of groups which is the more important.</span></p> <p><span>For example, in soccer games, <i>one player goal is the equip goal</i>. </span>(but 1 joueur est le but de l’équipe)</p><p><span>According to Geert Hofstede (a press article writer), these points show that the US is a more masculine country than France. I think we can reveal there is another aspect of this topic with gender ideas.</span></p><p><span>2°/ The power that is a more masculine idea can be illustrated by American will to possess big things.</span></p> <p><span>Indeed, American cars are big like <i>4x4 or pick up</i>, they like to eat big burgers.</span></p> <p><span>They use an amazing budget for their movies with many special effects and they often contain fights like Rambo, Terminator or Rocky. Each time, we have the feeling that American glory is bet and it’s always American people who win.</span></p> <p><span>Then, American comics imply heroes with a super strength and a nice physical appearance like Superman or Hulk.</span></p> <p><span>On the contrary, French culture hires the small things and products are adapted to family which is a more feminine idea.</span></p> <p><span>There are small French cars for young people the Twingo, the Clio or the Smart and we’re used to taking a little break with a small cup of coffee.</span></p> <p><span>In France, there are often humoristic or romantic movies like movie of the moment “Bienvenue chez les ch’tis” which is the best French humoristic movie of the year.</span></p> <p><span>We’re also used to reading comics like “Astérix” or “Tintin” who are not really superheroes.</span></p> <p><span>As we see through all these examples America owns more masculine ideas than France and we really saw a gap between these two mentalities.</span></p> <p><b><span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>3°/ </span></b><span>However, the feminine culture in France is limited.</span></p> <p><span>We also have a competitive policy as we se through a job or college interview. The selection is tough, there are some oral or written exams and many people are refused.</span></p> <p><span>The vision of soccer as a “sweet” sport is far from reality because many players are hurt during the games. </span></p> <p><span>Furthermore, there are French action movies like “Les rivières pourpres”, “Nikita” and “Leon” which compete with American super production.</span></p> <p><span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>In my opinion, the association between masculine culture with men who search for success and power, and feminine culture with women who look after their family is a stereotype. It tends to disappear today, women are more and more independent and they can be company’s bosses or minister.</span></p> <p><span>For instance, the French company CHANEL is lead by a woman.</span></p> <p><span>To conclude, obviously the US is a more “masculine” culture than France. But in my view, there isn’t a best culture because self-confidence and relationships are essential to have a happy live.</span></p> <p><span>We can wonder if the promotion of power and success could not lead to abuse.</span></p><p>Sincerely,&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;http://www.englishforums.com/English/CorrectionOfAnEssay/grjmm/post.htm#503943Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:10:36 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:503943learner_of_englishHello,</p><p>&nbsp;Thanks for your quick answer !<br /> </p><p>I didn&#39;t realise my sentences were so short, I corrected them so I hope it is better now.&nbsp; I added numbers to empasis my main points. </p><p>Could you help me to correct my grammar ?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span>Through History, we’ve seen that American people are proud and want to manage the world. Meanwhile, French people know how to live and they have a more collectivism mentality. According to several studies, the US is a more “masculine” country than France. We’re about to study if this is a reality or not.</span></p> <p><span>1°/ First, we can compare educational values between these two countries.</span></p> <p><span>The American people educational values are rather funded on individualism.</span></p> <p><span>Each person must show his value to be recognized, the merit is more important than the <i>link formed (relationship)</i> with others. Pupils and students have to be independent, self-confident, their teacher assists them in work but they don’t give solutions. They also have to be competitive.</span></p> <p><span>For instance, intercollegiate sporting events are promoted in American football and basketball. These competitions attract not only young people but all sport fans.</span></p> <p><span>In France, educational values are rather funded on collectivism.</span></p> <p><span>The ties between people are privileged, it doesn’t matter if a person <i>undergoes many failures </i>his family and his friends will always support him. Devotion in relationships is essential because people don’t stand to be alone.</span></p> <p><span>As students, we’re used to partying several times by week, we enter in student associations to share our ideals with others and we think that is the victory of groups which is the more important.</span></p> <p><span>For example, in soccer games, <i>one player goal is the equip goal</i>. </span>(but 1 joueur est le but de l’équipe)</p> <p><span>According to Geert Hofstede (a press article writer), these points show that the US is a more masculine country than France. I think we can reveal there is another aspect of this topic with gender ideas.</span></p> <p><span>2°/ The power that is a more masculine idea can be illustrated by American will to possess big things.</span></p> <p><span>Indeed, American cars are big like <i>4x4 or pick up</i>, they like to eat big burgers.</span></p> <p><span>They use an amazing budget for their movies with many special effects and they often contain fights like Rambo, Terminator or Rocky. Each time, we have the feeling that American glory is bet and it’s always American people who win.</span></p> <p><span>Then, American comics imply heroes with a super strength and a nice physical appearance like Superman or Hulk.</span></p> <p><span>On the contrary, French culture hires the small things and products are adapted to family which is a more feminine idea.</span></p> <p><span>There are small French cars for young people the Twingo, the Clio or the Smart and we’re used to taking a little break with a small cup of coffee.</span></p> <p><span>In France, there are often humoristic or romantic movies like movie of the moment “Bienvenue chez les ch’tis” which is the best French humoristic movie of the year.</span></p> <p><span>We’re also used to reading comics like “Astérix” or “Tintin” who are not really superheroes.</span></p> <p><span>As we see through all these examples America owns more masculine ideas than France and we really saw a gap between these two mentalities.</span></p> <p><b><span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>3°/ </span></b><span>However, the feminine culture in France is limited.</span></p> <p><span>We also have a competitive policy as we se through a job or college interview. The selection is tough, there are some oral or written exams and many people are refused.</span></p> <p><span>The vision of soccer as a “sweet” sport is far from reality because many players are hurt during the games. </span></p> <p><span>Furthermore, there are French action movies like “Les rivières pourpres”, “Nikita” and “Leon” which compete with American super production.</span></p> <p><span><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>In my opinion, the association between masculine culture with men who search for success and power, and feminine culture with women who look after their family is a stereotype. It tends to disappear today, women are more and more independent and they can be company’s bosses or minister.</span></p> <p><span>For instance, the French company CHANEL is lead by a woman.</span></p> <p><span>To conclude, obviously the US is a more “masculine” culture than France. But in my view, there isn’t a best culture because self-confidence and relationships are essential to have a happy live.</span></p> <p><span>We can wonder if the promotion of power and success could not lead to abuse.</span></p> <p>Sincerely, <br />http://www.englishforums.com/English/CorrectionOfAnEssay/grwhj/post.htmMon, 21 Apr 2008 21:37:28 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:503566learner_of_englishHello,<br /><br />I&#39;m trying to write Essays to improve my English level cause I want to study in the United Kingdom.&nbsp; But I always have some problems in grammar.<br /><br />So I would like a kind English speaker correct the big mistakes in the grammar of my sentences (not the content). I&#39;ll be very grateful if you can help me <img src="http://www.englishforums.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /><br /><br />Thanks a lot ! <br /><br />&nbsp;The topic is : &quot;<b>According to press articles, the US is a more masculine country than France. To what extent do you believe this is true ?</b>&quot;<br /><br />Through History, we’ve seen that American people are proud and want to manage the world. Meanwhile, French people know how to live and they have a more collectivism mentality. According to several studies, the US is a more “masculine” country than France. We’re about to study if this is a reality or not.<br /><br />First, we can compare educational values between these two countries.<br /><br />American people are rather individualistic.<br /><br />Each person must show his value to be recognized. The merit is more important than the link formed with others. Pupils and students have to be independent, self-confident and competitive. Competition is the key word there.<br /><br />For instance, intercollegiate sporting events are promoted in American football and basketball. These competitions attract not only young people but all sport fans.<br /><br />In France, people are rather collectivistic. Ties between people are privileged. It doesn’t matter if a person undergoes many failures, his family and his friends will always support him. Devotion in relationships is essential because people don’t want to be alone.<br /><br />We’re used to partying several times by week, we enter in student associations to share our ideals with others and we think that is the victory of groups which is more important.<br /><br />In a soccer games, one player goal is the equip goal. (but 1 joueur est le but de l’équipe)<br /><br />According to Geert Hofstede, these points show that the US is a more masculine country than France. I think there is another aspect of this topic with the gender ideas.<br /><br />One of those ideas is the power that is a more masculine idea. We have noticed that big is part of American culture, I think it can illustrate that idea.<br /><br />Indeed, American cars are big like 4x4 or Espace, there are big burgers.<br /><br />They use an amazing budget for their movies with many special effects. They often contain fights like Rambo, Terminator or Rocky. Each time, we have the feeling that American glory is bet and it’s always American people who win.<br /><br />Then, American comics imply more heroes with superpowers and a nice physical appearance like Superman or Hulk.<br /><br />On the contrary, French culture hires the small things. Products are adapted to family which is a more feminine idea.<br /><br />French cars for young people are smaller like the Twingo, the Clio or the Smart. We’re used to taking a little break with a small cup of coffee.<br /><br />In France, there are often humoristic or romantic movies. At the moment, “Bienvenue chez les ch’tis” is the best French humoristic movie of the year.<br /><br />In France, we’re used to reading comics like “Astérix” or “Tintin” who are not really superheroes.<br /><br />As we see through all these examples America owns more masculine ideas than France. We really see a gap between these two mentalities.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; However, the feminine culture in France is limited.<br /><br />We also have a competitive policy as we se through a job or college interview. The selection is tough, there are some oral or written exams and many people are refused.<br /><br />The vision of soccer as a “sweet” sport is far from reality because many players are hurt during the games. There are French action movies like “Les rivières pourpres”, “Nikita”, “Leon” which compete with American super production.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In my opinion, the association between masculine culture with men who search success and feminine culture with women who look after their family is a stereotype. It tends to disappear today, women are more and more independent and they can be company’s boss or minister.<br /><br />For instance, the French company CHANEL is lead by a woman.<br /><br />To conclude, obviously the US is a more “masculine” culture than France. But in my view, there isn’t best culture because self-confident and relationships are essential to live.<br /><br />And we can wonder if the promotion of power and success could not lead to abuse.<br /><br />&nbsp;Sincerely, <br />http://www.englishforums.com/English/AdvantagesCartoonsChildren/zpgpv/post.htm#493293Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:54:27 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:493293Anonymous<p><strong><font><font color="#000066">My chosen topic for investigation was &#39;Children and Television&#39;. Within this topic I decided to focus on whether children of the ages 7 - 8 understand the differences between reality and fiction in television programmes.<br /><br />To enable me to do my investigation I used a combination of both primary secondary research methods. Primary research allowed me to develop my role as a researcher to gain my own findings and secondary research method allowed me to compare or contrast my findings to previous studies undertaken. <br /><br />One example of a secondary research method I used to investigate the relationship between children and television was using search engines on the Internet.The search engine I used was </font><font color="#0000ff">www.yahoo.com</font><font color="#000066">. Initially I types in &#39;children + Television&#39; however, this gave me websites on children&#39;s television channels such as </font><font color="#0000ff">www.</font><font color="#0000ff">cbbc.co.uk</font><font color="#000066">. I therefore decided to refine my search as I needed sociological studies undertaken into children&#39;s perceptions of reality and fiction on television. I therefore refined my search to &#39;Children + Television + Reality&#39;. This proved more successful supplying me with a useful article </font><font color="#0000ff">www.childrennow.org/television/talk-news/htm</font></font></strong><strong><font><font color="#000066">. This article gave parental advice on what age children are able to watch the news without it deeply upsetting them, due to the reality of events it features. A strength of this article is it is created by an organisation, however it does have a psychological perspective, which over emphasises that television radically effects children.<br /><br />Another useful site was </font><font color="#0000ff">www.stevwib.zen.co.uk</font><font color="#000066">. This had the advantage of being created by a media teacher therefore its contents has been checked to make sure it was relevant to the topic. One useful article found on this site was </font><font color="#0000ff">www.aber.ac.uk/media/documents/short/realrev.html</font></font></strong><strong><font><font color="#000066">. This gave a summary of previous studies undertaken to find out children&#39;s perceptions of reality and fiction on television. However, as all articles do, it was biased towards a particular perspective.<br /><br />All in all, the Internet is a huge medium, therefore to gain relevant information searches need to be refined. Also, no text is unbiased, therefore the bias in articles and websites need to be considered. <br /><br />Another secondary research&nbsp; method I used was books. One was David Buckingham Moving Images: Understanding Children&#39;s Emotional&nbsp; Responses to Television Manchester University Press (1996). In one chapter this explained his study undertaken with children from a variety of age groups, asking about their perceptions on the reality and fiction of three television programmes; Casualty, Ghostwatch and Crimewatch. Another book I used was Bob Hodge and Daivd Tripp Children and Television Polity Press (1987). One chapter focussed on a study they undertook in interviewing children of 5 - 12 on their perceptions of the reality of certain television characters. In evaluation a strength of using these books was that I could look at previous studies that had been undertaken looking at the methods they used and the age groups they focussed on. Another advantage was I was able to compare and contrast previous studies to my findings. Although, both books were biased towards a certain perspective, and also they had quite complex concepts to understand as in &#39;modality&#39; and &#39;perceived reality&#39;.<br /><br />For my primary research I e-mailed children&#39;s channels CBBC and CITV, asking for a professional opinion on what programmes they thought children would perceive to be fictional or reality based. However, I had no reply, in a way this turned into a positive, because I realised my approach through e-mailing was not direct and personal enough. If I had have got a response it would have been advantageous because I would have information direct from a media institution.<br /><br />For my primary research I piloted an interview with a neighbour of a similar age to the children in my final sample. I created a semi- structured interview and scheduel, and pre-defined questions on specific television programmes, for example &quot;Do you think Grange Hill is a real school?&quot; However, the child only watched one programme that my pre-defined questions related to, so allowed no comparison of reality and fiction. However, this was beneficial because it taught me not to be too specific with my pre-defined questions, instead to let the respondents lead the direction of the interview.<br /><br />For my primary research I phoned my ex primary school to arrange a time to interview a group of 7 - 8 year old children on their perceptions of reality and fiction in television programmes. The direct approach was more successful than e-mailing as I got a direct reply. I interviewed a group of eight children; four boys and four girls. I felt a mixture of genders would be best, because perceptions of reality and fiction could differ between the genders therefore this gave me a more representative sample more true to life. I used children of the ages of seven and eight, it would have been interesting to interview children from a different age groups, however, having only one child&#39;s perception from each age group would be unrepresentative to make generalisations from and a representative study would have needed a larger sample size.<br /><br />In reflection of my pilot study I used an unstructured interview with open ended questions, for example. &#39;Do you watch television?&#39; and let the interview develop from there. This had the advantage of having the flexibility to explore different ideas and emotions expressed by the children, thus not limiting the children to my specific pre-defined questions (as I did in the pilot). I used a tape recorder to record the interview, because it would have been highly inaccurate to depend on me remembering each point raised, so could have lead to a study with little validity. I decided to talk to the children informally to begin with not on the specific topic of television, to relate them and to get around the observer paradox. In reflection I feel I built up a better rapport with the females sa they payed a more active role in the interview. This could have been because myself being a female, unintentionally directed the questions at the females causing interview bias.<br /><br />All in all, I used a range of primary and secondary research methods, both of which had advantages and disadvantages as any methods do.<br /><br /></font><font color="#0000ff">This is a good answer covering a range of methods, accurately detailing sites and books used, summarising their key points and carefully relating them to one another. Evaluative, reflective, clear.</font></font></strong><strong><font><font color="#000066"> <br /><br /></font><em><font color="#ff0000">With detailed reference to your research findings, analyse and discuss the relationship between children and television<img src="http://www.englishforums.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif" alt="Smile" title="Smile" /></font></em></font></strong></p>http://www.englishforums.com/English/ThesisIdentification/zxvbn/post.htmTue, 11 Mar 2008 18:50:51 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:487573Anonymous<div id="post_message_540955">Here is an interesting article i was asked to study for english class:<br /><br />I OFTEN wonder whether people see me as a radical, fundamentalist Muslim terrorist packing an AK-47 assault rifle inside my jean jacket. Or may be they see me as the poster girl for oppressed womanhood everywhere. I&#39;m not sure which it is.<br /><br />I get the whole gamut of strange looks, stares, and covert glances. You see, I wear the hijab, a scarf that covers my head, neck, and throat. I do this because I am a Muslim woman who believes her body is her own private concern.<br /><br />Young Muslim women are reclaiming the hijab, reinterpreting it in light of its original purpose - to give back to women ultimate control of their own bodies. The Qur&#39;an teaches us that men and women are equal, that individuals should not be judged according to gender, beauty, wealth, or privilege. The only thing that makes one person better than another is her or his character. Nonetheless, people have a difficult time relating to me. After all, I&#39;m young, Canadian born and raised, university- educated - why would I do this to myself, they ask.<br /><br />Strangers speak to me in loud, slow English and often appear to be playing charades. They politely inquire how I like living in Canada and whether or not the cold bothers me. If I&#39;m in the right mood, it can be very amusing. But, why would I, a woman with all the advantages of a North American upbringing, suddenly, at 21, want to cover myself so that with the hijab and the other clothes I choose to wear, only my face and hands show? Because it gives me freedom.<br /><br />WOMEN are taught from early childhood that their worth is proportional to their attractiveness. We feel compelled to pursue abstract notions of beauty, half realizing that such a pursuit is futile. When women reject this form of oppression, they face ridicule and contempt. Whether it&#39;s women who refuse to wear makeup or to shave their legs, or to expose their bodies, society, both men and women, have trouble dealing with them.<br /><br />In the Western world, the hijab has come to symbolize either forced silence or radical, unconscionable militancy. Actually, it&#39;s neither. It is simply a woman&#39;s assertion that judgment of her physical person is to play no role whatsoever in social interaction. Wearing the hijab has given me freedom from constant attention to my physical self. Because my appearance is not subjected to public scrutiny, my beauty, or perhaps lack of it, has been removed from the realm of what can legitimately be discussed.<br /><br />No one knows whether my hair looks as if I just stepped out of a salon, whether or not I can pinch an inch, or even if I have unsightly stretch marks. And because no one knows, no one cares. Feeling that one has to meet the impossible male standards of beauty is tiring and often humiliating. I should know, I spent my entire teen-age years trying to do it. It was a borderline bulimic and spent a lot of money I didn&#39;t have on potions and lotions in hopes of becoming the next Cindy Crawford.<br /><br />The definition of beauty is ever-changing; waifish is good, waifish is bad, athletic is good - sorry, athletic is bad. Narrow hips? Great. Narrow hips? Too bad. Women are not going to achieve equality with the right to bear their breasts in public, as some people would like to have you believe. That would only make us party to our own objectification. True equality will be had only when women don&#39;t need to display themselves to get attention and won&#39;t need to defend their decision to keep their bodies to themselves.<br /><br />Naheed Mustafa<br /><br /><br /><br />I was asked to determine the thesis/general principle of this article, what i have is:<br /><br />&quot;Stereotyping is a method to labeling people, but it will confuse us and we will unable to observe the truth of people in characteristics, ability and personality.&quot;<br /><br />Or<br /><br />&quot;Equality between the sexes can only be achieved when a women’s appearance becomes irrelevant to her worth and status as a person.&quot;<br /><br /><br />Any ideas?</div> <p>&nbsp;</p>http://www.englishforums.com/English/SuggestEffectiveLearnIdiomsPhrases/zhqbn/post.htm#456650Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:12:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:456650A Cornish PastyI don't know where you are from so you may or may not have this feature in your own language:<br><br>Because French has noun genders (masculine and feminine), French schoolchildren learn all their nouns with the article, for example "le nez", "la bouche", so they always know what gender the word has. This is in contrast to English-speaking schoolchildren who just learn "nose", "mouth".<br><br>It's just an idea that I thought of while reading your post but you could try to use this method for learning phrasal verbs. Always remember that there's two parts and without the final part it can change all meaning. If you hear "take off", don't just learn "take" but think of it as one entire verb "take off".<br><br>I hope this helps a bit...<br>http://www.englishforums.com/English/GenderOfBlondBrunetGay/vqkbr/post.htm#415599Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:58:22 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:415599ScratchThatI'm speaking for usage in the USA.<br><br>"Gay" is used both for males and females, and it can be used as both a noun and an adjective.&nbsp; For example:<br><br>"Thomas is gay."<br>"Susan is gay."<br>"Frank is a gay." (rare, perjorative)<br>"A spokesman for the gays declared ..." (uncommon, slightly derogatory)<br><br>"Lesbian" is used exclusively for women.&nbsp; Here, the article is almost always used:<br><br>"Susan is a lesbian."<br><br>As far as hair colors go, saying someone is "a &lt;color&gt;" is relegated almost exclusively to describing women.<br><br>"She's a blonde."<br>"She's a lovely brunette."<br><br>I have never heard "He's a blond", and it would sound distinctly gay to say something like that.&nbsp; Instead:<br><br>"He has blond hair."<br>http://www.englishforums.com/English/GenderOfBlondBrunetGay/vqjlh/post.htmFri, 07 Sep 2007 12:57:08 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:415487XineloI move this query to a new post. <br><br>According to the <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.merriam-webster.com/">Merriam Webster dictionary</a> (which I think is American, but I don't actually know whether this is a prescriptive or descriptive dictionary), <i>blond</i> as a noun is used of a male and <i>blonde </i>when used of a female. The same applies to <i>brunet </i>vs. <i>brunette</i>: the former is used to refer to a male and the latter to a female. My question is: whatever the dictionary says, how normal is it to read "he's a blond" or "he's a brunet". I'm not referring to the spelling but to the actual word. Would a regular American English-speaker say ever that? (for example a journalist in a news article).<br><br>Regarding the word <i>gay</i> as a noun: it would be expected to be the gender-indefinite counterpart of <i>straight</i>, but is it really? Can it be used interchangeably both for males and females? Could you say "she's a gay"? Or is it only used of males, actually functioning as the masculine counterpart of <i>lesbian</i>?<br><br>As I said, I care about real usage rather than about what the dictionary says... <br><br>Thanks a lot for your attention and/or help! <br><br>Cheers, Manuel<br>http://www.englishforums.com/English/FellowBlokeMasculineIndefinite/vqwxl/post.htm#415253Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:06:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:415253Feebs11<BLOCKQUOTE><table width="85%"><tr><td class="txt4"><img src="/Themes/default/images/icon-quote.gif">&nbsp;<strong>Xinelo wrote:</strong></td></tr><tr><td class="quoteTable"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="100%" valign="top" class="txt4">I'd like to add some other words to the list. <br><br>According to the <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.merriam-webster.com/">Merriam Webster dictionary</a> (which I think is American, but I don't actually know whether this is a prescriptive or descriptive dictionary), <i>blond</i> as a noun is used of a male and <i>blonde </i>when used of a female. The same applies to <i>brunet </i>vs. <i>brunette</i>: the former is used to refer to a male and the latter to a female. My question is: whatever the dictionary says, how normal is it to read "he's a blond" or "he's a brunet". I'm not referring to the spelling but to the actual word. Would a regular American English-speaker say ever that? (for example a journalist in a news article).<br><br>Regarding the word <i>gay</i> as a noun: it would be expected to be the gender-indefinite counterpart of <i>straight</i>, but is it really? Can it be used interchangeably both for males and females? Could you say "she's a gay"? Or is it only used of males, actually functioning as the masculine counterpart of <i>lesbian</i>?<br><br>As I said, I care about real usage rather than about what the dictionary says... <br><br>Thanks a lot for your attention and/or help! <br><br>Cheers, Manuel<br></td></tr></table></td></tr></table></BLOCKQUOTE><br><br>A new thread would be a good thing if you have more than one query.<br><br>However, yes, you will see/hear "blond". I have never in fact come across "brunet" as an adjective.<br><br>"Gay" as a euphemism for "homosexual" is gender-indefinite. <br>http://www.englishforums.com/English/FellowBlokeMasculineIndefinite/vqwkk/post.htm#415184Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:27:43 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:415184XineloI'd like to add some other words to the list. <br><br>According to the <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank" title="http://www.merriam-webster.com/">Merriam Webster dictionary</a> (which I think is American, but I don't actually know whether this is a prescriptive or descriptive dictionary), <i>blond</i> as a noun is used of a male and <i>blonde </i>when used of a female. The same applies to <i>brunet </i>vs. <i>brunette</i>: the former is used to refer to a male and the latter to a female. My question is: whatever the dictionary says, how normal is it to read "he's a blond" or "he's a brunet". I'm not referring to the spelling but to the actual word. Would a regular American English-speaker say ever that? (for example a journalist in a news article).<br><br>Regarding the word <i>gay</i> as a noun: it would be expected to be the gender-indefinite counterpart of <i>straight</i>, but is it really? Can it be used interchangeably both for males and females? Could you say "she's a gay"? Or is it only used of males, actually functioning as the masculine counterpart of <i>lesbian</i>?<br><br>As I said, I care about real usage rather than about what the dictionary says... <br><br>Thanks a lot for your attention and/or help! <br><br>Cheers, Manuel<br>