A gender symbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields of gender politics, LGBT subculture and identity politics.
In his books Mantissa Plantarum (1767) and Mantissa Plantarum Altera (1771), Carl Linnaeus regularly used the planetary symbols of Mars, Venus and Mercury –♂, ♀, ☿ –for male, female and hermaphroditic (perfect) flowers, respectively. [1] Botanists now use ⚥ for the last. [2]
In genealogy, including kinship in anthropology and pedigrees in animal husbandry, the geometric shapes △ or □ are used for male and ○ for female. These are also used on public toilets in some countries.
The modern international pictograms used to indicate male and female public toilets, 🚹︎ and 🚺︎, became widely used in the 1960s and 1970s. They are sometimes abstracted to ▽ for male and △ for female. [3]
♀ ♂ ⚥ △ □ ○ | |
---|---|
Gender symbol | |
In Unicode | U+2640♀FEMALE SIGNU+2642♂MALE SIGN U+26A5⚥MALE AND FEMALE SIGNU+25B3△WHITE UP-POINTING TRIANGE U+25A1□WHITE SQUAREU+25CB○WHITE CIRCLE |
The three standard sex symbols in biology are male ♂, female ♀ and hermaphroditic ⚥; originally the symbol for Mercury, ☿, was used for the last. These symbols were first used by Carl Linnaeus in 1751 to denote whether flowers were male (stamens only), female (pistil only) or perfect flowers with both pistils and stamens. [1] (Most flowering and conifer plant species are hermaphroditic and either bear flowers/cones that themselves are hermaphroditic, or bear both male and female flowers/cones on the same plant.) These symbols are now ubiquitous in biology and medicine to indicate the sex of an individual, for example of a patient. [4] [lower-alpha 1]
Kinship charts use a triangle △ for male and circle ○ for female. [6] [7] Pedigree charts published in scientific papers use an earlier anthropological convention of a square □ for male and a circle ○ for female. [8]
Before a shape distinction was adopted, all individuals had been represented by a circle in Morgan's 1871 System of Consanguinity and Affinity of Human Family, where gender is encoded in the abbreviations for the kin relation (e.g. M for 'mother' and F for 'father'). [9] W. H. R. Rivers distinguished gender in the words of the language being recorded by writing male kinship terms in all capitals and female kinship terms with normal capitalization. That convention was quite influential for a time, and his convention of prioritizing male kin by placing them to the left and females to the right continues to this day though there have been exceptions, such as Margaret Mead, who placed females to the left. [10]
The modern gender symbols used for public toilets, 🚹︎ for male and 🚺︎ and female, are pictograms created for the British Rail system in the mid-1960s. [11] Before that, local usage had been more variable. For example, schoolhouse outhouses in the 19th-century United States had ventilation holes in their doors that were shaped like a starburst Sun ✴ or like a crescent Moon ☾, respectively, to indicate whether the toilet was for use by boys or girls. [12] The British Rail pictograms –often color-coded blue and red[ citation needed ] –are now the norm for marking public toilets in much of the world, with the female symbol distinguished by a triangular skirt or dress, and in early years (and sometimes still) the male symbol stylized like a tuxedo. [3]
These symbols are abstracted to varying degrees in different countries –for example, the circle-and-triangle variants (female) and (male) commonly found on portable toilets, to the extreme of a triangle △ (representing a skirt or dress) for female and an inverted triangle ▽ (representing a broad-shouldered tuxedo) for male in Lithuania. [3]
In elementary schools, the pictograms may be of children rather than of adults, with the girl distinguished by her hair. In themed locations, such as bars and tourist attractions, a thematic image or figurine of a man and woman or boy and girl may be used.[ citation needed ]
In Poland, an inverted triangle ▽ is used for male while a circle ○ is used for female. [3]
In mainland China, silhouettes of heads in profile may be used as gender pictograms,[ citation needed ] generally alongside the Chinese characters for male (男) and female (女). [13]
Some contemporary designs for restroom signage in public spaces are shifting away from symbols that demonstrate gender as binary as a way to be more inclusive. [14] [15]
Since the 1970s, variations of gender symbols have been used to express sexual orientation and gender politics. Two interlocking male symbols ⚣ are used to represent gay men while two interlocking female symbols ⚢ are often used to represent lesbians. [16]
The combined male-female symbol (⚦) is used to represent androgyne or transgender people; when additionally combined with the female (♀) and male (♂) symbols (⚧) it indicates gender inclusivity, though it is also used as a transgender symbol. [17] [18]
Since the 2000s, numerous variants of gender symbols have been introduced in the context of LGBT culture and politics.[ citation needed ] Some of these symbols have been adopted into Unicode (in the Miscellaneous Symbols block) beginning with version 4.1 in 2005.
Unicode name | Symbol | Hexadecimal representation | Decimal representation | Associated Unicode Standard wording [19] [20] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FEMALE SIGN | ♀ | U+2640 | ♀ | ||
MALE SIGN | ♂ | U+2642 | ♂ | ||
MALE AND FEMALE SIGN | ⚥ | U+26A5 | ⚥ | Intersex, androgynous; hermaphrodite (in botany) | |
WHITE UP-POINTING TRIANGLE | △ | U+25B3 | △ | Trine | |
WHITE DOWN-POINTING TRIANGLE | ▽ | U+25BD | ▽ | Hamilton operator | |
WHITE SQUARE | □ | U+25A1 | □ | ||
WHITE CIRCLE | ○ | U+25CB | ○ | ||
CIRCLED TRIANGLE | 🟕 | U+1F7D5 | 🟕 | ||
MENS SYMBOL | 🚹︎ | U+1F6B9 | 🚹 | Man symbol; men's restroom | |
WOMENS SYMBOL | 🚺︎ | U+1F6BA | 🚺 | Woman symbol; women's restroom | |
BOYS SYMBOL | 🛉︎ | U+1F6C9 | 🛉 | ||
GIRLS SYMBOL | 🛊︎ | U+1F6CA | 🛊 | ||
RESTROOM | 🚻︎ | U+1F6BB | 🚻 | Man and woman symbol with divider; unisex restroom [lower-alpha 2] |
A pictogram is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a writing system which uses pictograms. Some pictograms, such as hazard pictograms, may be elements of formal languages.
A laundry symbol, also called a care symbol, is a pictogram indicating the manufacturer's suggestions as to methods of washing, drying, dry-cleaning and ironing clothing. Such symbols are written on labels, known as care labels or care tags, attached to clothing to indicate how a particular item should best be cleaned. While there are internationally recognized standards for the care labels and pictograms, their exact use and form differ by region. In some standards, pictograms coexist with or are complemented by written instructions.
A solar symbol is a symbol representing the Sun. Common solar symbols include circles, crosses, and spirals. In religious iconography, personifications of the Sun or solar attributes are often indicated by means of a halo or a radiate crown.
The general prohibition sign, also known informally as the no symbol, 'do not' sign, circle-backslash symbol, nay, interdictory circle, prohibited symbol, don't do it symbol, or universal no, is a red circle with a 45-degree diagonal line inside the circle from upper-left to lower-right. It is typically overlaid on a pictogram to warn that an activity is not permitted, or has accompanying text to describe what is prohibited.
Hazard symbols or warning symbols are recognisable symbols designed to warn about hazardous or dangerous materials, locations, or objects, including electromagnetic fields, electric currents; harsh, toxic or unstable chemicals ; and radioactivity. The use of hazard symbols is often regulated by law and directed by standards organizations. Hazard symbols may appear with different colors, backgrounds, borders, and supplemental information in order to specify the type of hazard and the level of threat. Warning symbols are used in many places in place of or in addition to written warnings as they are quickly recognized and more universally understood, as the same symbol can be recognized as having the same meaning to speakers of different languages.
Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy-Tenger published an inventory of 3,695 symbols and variants, and that was not exhaustive, omitting for example many of the symbols used by Isaac Newton. This page therefore lists only the most common symbols.
The DOT pictograms are a set of fifty pictograms used to convey information useful to travelers without using words. Such images are often used in airports, train stations, hotels, and other public places for foreign tourists, as well as being easier to identify than strings of text. Among these pictograms are graphics representing toilets and telephones. As a result of their near-universal acceptance, some describe them as the "Helvetica" of pictograms, and the character portrayed within them as Helvetica Man.
A public toilet, restroom, public bathroom or washroom is a room or small building with toilets and sinks for use by the general public. The facilities are available to customers, travelers, employees of a business, school pupils and prisoners and are commonly separated into male and female toilets, although some are unisex, especially for small or single-occupancy public toilets, public toilets are sometimes accessible to people with disabilities. Depending on the culture, there may be varying degrees of separation between males and females and different levels of privacy. Typically, the entire room, or a stall or cubicle containing a toilet, is lockable. Urinals, if present in a male toilet, are typically mounted on a wall with or without a divider between them. Local authorities or commercial businesses may provide public toilet facilities. Some are unattended while others are staffed by an attendant. In many cultures, it is customary to tip the attendant, especially if they provide a specific service, such as might be the case at upscale nightclubs or restaurants.
Male is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most male mammals, including male humans, have a Y chromosome, which codes for the production of larger amounts of testosterone to develop male reproductive organs.
In botanical nomenclature, a hybrid may be given a hybrid name, which is a special kind of botanical name, but there is no requirement that a hybrid name should be created for plants that are believed to be of hybrid origin. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp) provides the following options in dealing with a hybrid:
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbols for self-identification to demonstrate unity, pride, shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag.
An arrow is a graphical symbol, such as ← or →, or a pictogram, used to point or indicate direction. In its simplest form, an arrow is a triangle, chevron, or concave kite, usually affixed to a line segment or rectangle, and in more complex forms a representation of an actual arrow. The direction indicated by an arrow is the one along the length of the line or rectangle toward the single pointed end.
Unisex public toilets are public toilets that are not separated by gender or sex.
Kinship terminology is the system used in languages to refer to the persons to whom an individual is related through kinship. Different societies classify kinship relations differently and therefore use different systems of kinship terminology; for example, some languages distinguish between consanguine and affinal uncles, whereas others have only one word to refer to both a father and his brothers. Kinship terminologies include the terms of address used in different languages or communities for different relatives and the terms of reference used to identify the relationship of these relatives to ego or to each other.
A planet symbol or planetary symbol is a graphical symbol used in astrology and astronomy to represent a classical planet or one of the modern planets. The symbols were also used in alchemy to represent the metals associated with the planets, and in calendars for their associated days. The use of these symbols derives from classical Greco-Roman astronomy, although their current altered shapes were developed in the 16th century.
In logical argument and mathematical proof, the therefore sign, ∴, is generally used before a logical consequence, such as the conclusion of a syllogism. The symbol consists of three dots placed in an upright triangle and is read therefore. While it is not generally used in formal writing, it is used in mathematics and shorthand.
A man is an adult human who is male. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy.
An organism's sex is female if it produces the ovum, the type of gamete that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
This article addresses the history of transgender people across the British Isles in the United Kingdom, the British colonies and the Kingdom of England until the present day. Transgender people were historically recognised in the UK by varying titles and cultural gender indicators, such as dress. People dressing and living differently from their sex assignment at birth and contributing to various aspects of British history and culture have been documented from the 14th century to the present day. In the 20th century, advances in medicine, social and biological sciences and transgender activism have influenced transgender life in the UK.
In Poland, meanwhile, you can come across lavatories indicating 'gents' with a triangle and 'ladies' with a circle, while in Lithuania men are represented by an inverted pyramid and women by a pyramid standing the right way up. [...] One of the best early examples of intuitive global signs for public lavatories was that created for British Rail in the mid-1960s. [...] In the 1970s, the British example was developed on a more comprehensive basis in the United States. In 1974, the US Department of Transportation commissioned the American Institute of Graphic Arts to create a set of pictograms to be used throughout public transport networks whether road, rail, air or sea.
(Mars male gender symbol) indicates male; (female Venus gender symbol) indicates female
Classics of design: One of the best early examples of intuitive global signs for public lavatories was that created for British Rail in the mid-1960s. As part of a major modernisation programme, the state railway was given a new and all-embracing corporate identity by DRU [Design Research Unit], a design studio founded by Marcus Brumwell and Misha Black in 1943. Working with Margaret Calvert and Jock Kinneir, who designed a distinctive Rail Alphabet typeface based on Helvetica, DRU devised a clean-cut and convincingly modern aesthetic that was applied to all locomotives, trains, stations, published material and, yes, signs for lavatories.(includes picture of the ideogram, which is copyright).
Since the 1970s, gays have used double interlocking male symbols to represent gay men. Double interlocking female symbols are often been used [ sic ] to symbolize lesbianism, but some feminists have instead used the double female symbols to represent sisterhood among women and three interlocking female symbols to denote lesbianism.