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ODOM. PROCD. DATE
aspiring lifer

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

Masculine equivalent of "the fairer sex"

English answer:

the stronger sex

Added to glossary by Nesrin
Aug 3, 2006 10:25
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term

The "un-fair" sex?

English Social Sciences Linguistics
Women are sometimes referred to as "the fair sex", but is there a similar term for men?
In Arabic there is (it means something like "the rough sex"). I would have thought there's one in English as well, but I just can't think of any! Can you?
Thanks!
Responses
3 +2 See comment below...
4 +5 the stronger sex

Discussion

Tony M Aug 3, 2006:
No, it's one of those 'false comparatives' we were talking about the other day [older children]
Nesrin (asker) Aug 3, 2006:
That's what I said at first, Ruth, but then Dusty mentioned "the fairer sex" - I looked it up on Google and found that it's used more often that "the fair sex". I guess the term was modified to "fairer sex" by men who thought of themselves as beautiful too!
Refugio Aug 3, 2006:
The phrase is "the fair sex", not "the fairer sex."
Nesrin (asker) Aug 3, 2006:
Context: It's just a man commenting on a discussion between men and women, saying that he is biased towards the opinion of his own, "the stronger sex".
IanW (X) Aug 3, 2006:
Could you give us some idea of the context in which this will be used?

Responses

+2
7 mins
English term (edited): [masculine equivalent of 'the fairer sex']
Selected

See comment below...

Actually, I don't think there is a single expression... Odd, isn't it, how we defined women by what they were meant to BE: 'beautiful', but men by what they were supposed to DO: 'the wage-earner / bread-winner' etc. — I think it's going to take a long time before such preconceptions disappear!

So, it may depend on your context, possibly one of those kinds of expressions might do. You could also try 'the stronger sex', I believe I have heard that very occasionally.

Please don't think for an instant I condone any of this ingrained sexual stereotyping!

Oh, and by the way, whatever you do, avoid the term 'rough sex', won't you? ;-)

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Note added at 8 mins (2006-08-03 10:34:03 GMT)
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Sorry, innaccurate use of language: I should of course have said "gender stereotyping"

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Note added at 33 mins (2006-08-03 10:58:42 GMT)
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Sorry, Nesrin, by 'meant' I simply meant "that was the rôle expected of them"

OF COURSE women are all beautiful — goes without saying! Though one might be unkindly Orwellian and suggest that "some are more beautiful than others..." — but I'll refrain! :-))
Note from asker:
Thanks Dusty! What do you mean "they were MEANT to be beautiful" ;-) And yes, I will certainly take your last comment on board!! :-)
Peer comment(s):
agree Cilian O'Tuama : I've heard it more than very occasionally
2 mins
Thanks, Cilian!
agree Refugio : I was thinking, what would be the opposite of the fair sex? Surely not the ugly sex. Then I thought of "the plainer sex", but it turns out that in birds, that also means the female!
24 mins
Thanks, Ruth! Well, if I were a typical representative, I think 'ugly' would be quite appropriate! Luckily, the others are better...
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks Dusty and Cilian! Points go to Dusty for mentioning "the stronger sex" first. I loved that bit, Cilian: "the weaker sex is indeed the stronger sex because of the weakness of the stronger sex for the weaker sex." "
+5
8 mins
English term (edited): un-fair

the stronger sex

though whether it's true is another matter

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Note added at 22 mins (2006-08-03 10:47:27 GMT)
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Life is indeed cruel to men. When they are born their mothers get compliments and flowers, when they get married their brides get presents and publicity and when they die their wives get the sympathies and the insurance money. I sincerely believe that whosoever termed the fair sex as the weaker sex has done an unfair thing since the weaker sex is indeed the stronger sex because of the weakness of the stronger sex for the weaker sex.

continued at http://www.netjeff.com/humor/item.cgi?file=TheFairerSex
Peer comment(s):
agree Tony M : Not all of us, though! // Oh, there's a lot more of us than that, Cilian! ;-)) // Dang it Ian, I was counting on you!
17 mins
There's always one, isn't there. Now where were we? ;-)
agree Refugio : This is probably the best option, though not really the counterpart of fair. I think "the fair sex" may be partly ironic, or a polite compliment, similar to "my better half," which is not always meant literally.
26 mins
agree Armorel Young : it's interesting that Roget's thesaurus offers the distaff, the fair sex, the softer sex and the weaker sex for women, but has no comparable terms at all for men (not even this one)
51 mins
agree Derek Gill Franßen
52 mins
agree IanW (X) : Best option IMHO (rough sex doesn't do it for me ...)
3 hrs
(I hope everyone's paying attention) // BTW, you might now want to console Dusty
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