What Do Sex and Gender Even Mean Now?
This article explores the historical evolution and current semantic confusion surrounding the terms 'sex' and 'gender.' It traces how these concepts shifted from distinct biological and social categories to the current state of linguistic ambiguity in law, medicine, and public discourse.
Why it matters
The loss of clear, shared definitions for sex and gender complicates legal, medical, and social policy, often leading to significant friction in public debate and institutional governance.
The history of a semantic mess––and a way out of it
Illustration by Stephanie Jones August 11, 2026, 3:41 PM ET Share Save In her first argument as a lawyer before the Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously quoted the abolitionist Sarah Grimké, who said, “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” At some point, however, Ginsburg was encouraged to use an alternative to the term sex .
“I’m typing all these briefs and articles for you and the word sex, sex, sex is on every page,” her secretary at Columbia Law School told her. “Don’t you know that those nine men”—that era’s Supreme Court justices—“they hear that word, and their first association is not the way you want them to be thinking?” The secretary suggested substituting gender to “ward off distracting associations.”
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