London: The definitions of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ have been altered by the Cambridge University.
The reason is to include transgender people.
The definition of ‘man’ now includes “an adult who lives and identifies as a male though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
The updated definition of ‘woman’ is “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth.”
The long-standing definitions are still there, which say that sex and gender identity always adhered to one another.
The dictionary provides two examples to explain the meaning of ‘man’.
“It also gives two examples: ‘Mark is a trans man (= men who were said to be female when they were born)’ and ‘their doctor encouraged them to live as a man for a while before undergoing surgical transition’.”
The examples for ‘woman’ read: “She was the first trans woman elected to a national office” and “Mary is a woman who was assigned male at birth.”
According to a Cambridge Dictionary spokesperson, its editors made this “addition to the entry for ‘woman’ in October.” But the change gained attention Britain’s Telegraph newspaper reported the news this week.
