Dear Hillary
in German gender has three ideal positions and thus three articles: der
- male, die - female and das - "sächlich". The latter is tranlated as
"neuter", which is profoundly wrong, since it obscures the exclusion of
this Third/Other from the main gender distinction. For me, this
constellation realeals the mininal logic structure of a caste system,
being composed of a dominant caste, an inferior caste and the non-caste
(which do not get in touch with gender); it is by the way the structure
of phallogocentrism, putting the men above women, and those two more
and less rational beings above the non-rational ones.
German grammar does not deal with other genders, like gay or lesbian or
bisexual or non-sexual beings and so on. Since these and other possible
options do not get a previsioned position, they are a priori defined as
derivates from the three original poles. So, one would have to think
about the position of hybrids (the non-positional positions, the
u-topia?) in the phallogocentric system.
Another point is to take gender also as a temporal category.
"Geschlecht" (gender) in german refers also to the line of decendence,
thus to the origin of an entity. Only recently I learned that the word
"Onanie" (usually, following S. Freud translated with masturbation)
should be distinguished from masturbation. It refers to "On" (a figure
in the bible, book moses?) who spoiled his sperma to the ground in
orter not to give his "gender (in the sence of dependency)" to a wife
that he took from his dead brother. This is an action within a system
of power reproduction, whereas masturbation is a (genderless? in german
a female word) technique of satisfaction.
Why don't you ask people from other countries to reflect also on the
meaning of gender that is inscribed into grammar?
Please send me a list with words that you are interested in (I suggest
terms referring to knwoledge/power and institutions) and I will provide
you the german translation and its gender. (Another option would be to
consult a dictionary :-)
Regards
Wolfgang
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Dr. Wolfgang Zierhofer
Koordinationsstelle Mensch-Gesellschaft-Umwelt (MGU)
Universität Basel
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