The definitions of the terms "men" and "women" have been disputed by Commons users for decades, especially regarding the inclusion or exclusion of young people from the respective categories. Some users want to restrict these terms to adult humans, while others want to include young people as well. Here, I've compiled the "for" arguments and notational category trees for both definitions.
Q: Can these children be called "men and women"? A1: Nay, they are too young. A2: Yes, because the terms "men" and "women" may also include young people.
Almost all English dictionaries define a "man" as an "adult male human", and a "woman" as an "adult female human". This also applies to other languages such as German.
Children are too young to be referred to as "men and women".
The distinction between people who are at some reference point in time still legal children (boys and girls) and those who are adults (men and women) is useful in various contexts such as rights, legal protections, characteristic biological differences, and so on.
Laws as well as many reliable sources distinguish between girls/boys and women/men. Furthermore, many such sources name women and girls separately – examples:
Example sources distinguishing between women and girls
"How Can Sport-Based Interventions Improve Health among Women and Girls? A Scoping Review" [1]
"Mental health needs among pregnant and parenting adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: A scoping review" [2]
"…interventions could improve women's and girls' health and well-being." [7].
"Violence against women and girls starts early […] organizations, that work at the intersection of violence against children and women" [8]
"UN expert calls for equality and stronger protections for women and girls in sports" [9]
Commons is a multilingual project, so the equivalents of the terms "man" and "woman" in other languages should be considered. In many cases, the equivalents of the terms "man" and "woman" in other languages refer to male and female humans respectively, regardless of age.
For example, the Bengali terms for "man" and "woman" are "পুরুষ" and "নারী"/"মহিলা" respectively, and none of them are ever used as opposed to the terms "ছেলে" and "মেয়ে" ("boys" and "girls") respectively. In fact, "ছেলে" is often extended to cover young adults, while "মেয়ে" is often extended to cover both young adults and middle-aged women.[link needed]
Even in English, outside age-sensitive discussions, the terms "man" and "woman" are sometimes used to refer to male and female humans respectively, regardless of age.
The term "women" (singular "woman") is increasingly common in occupational titles in place of "female", without additional connotations of being adult. For example, "women athletes",[citation needed] "women singers", or "women workers".[citation needed] See also: Child labor.
Terms like "women's health" and "women's rights" are usually referring to female humans of all age, not just adult female humans. Also, the "International Women's Day" is celebrated by female humans of all age.
Thank you for this. Hard to decide, but for my part I think we should follow normal usage, not dictionaries. Rathfelder (talk) 18:03, 9 December 2024 (UTC)
