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Netflix Edits 'Bill Nye' Episode to Remove Segment Saying Chromosomes Determine Gender

posted by Fnord666 on Friday May 05 2017, @09:53AM   
from the language-evolves-too dept.

MrPlow writes:

Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard

When uploaded to Netflix, an episode of the educational children's show "Bill Nye the Science Guy" cut out a segment saying that chromosomes determine one's gender.

[...] While noncontroversial at the time, the 1996 segment appears to contradict Netflix's new series "Bill Nye Saves the World."

The new show endorses a socially liberal understanding of gender, under which gender is defined by self-identification rather than genetics and there are more than just the two traditional genders.

People, people, people... Say it with me: The Internet Never Forgets.

Source: http://freebeacon.com/culture/netflix-edits-bill-nye-episode-remove-segment-chromosomes-determine-gender/

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Original Submission

• Re:I Think It's Sad Re:I Think It's Sad (Score: 4, Informative) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Friday May 05 2017, @03:22PM (1 child)

  by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Friday May 05 2017, @03:22PM (#504927)

  However there's no clear consensus on the vocabulary - "sex = biological, gender=cultural" might be a sensible to adopt some such convention going forward, there's certainly no justification for going back and censoring 20-year-old videos that don't use your preferred terminology.

  Gender only became synonymous with sex after sex reassignment became available in the mid-20th century.

  The word gender has been used since the 14th century as a grammatical term, referring to classes of noun designated as masculine, feminine, or neuter in some languages. The sense denoting biological sex has also been used since the 14th century, but this did not become common until the mid 20th century. Although the words gender and sex are often used interchangeably, they have slightly different connotations; sex tends to refer to biological diferences, while gender more often refers to cultural and social differences and sometimes encompasses a broader range of identities than the binary of male and female.

  - Definition of gender in English [oxforddictionaries.com]

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• Re:I Think It's Sad (Score: 2) by theluggage on Friday May 05 2017, @05:22PM

  by theluggage (1797) on Friday May 05 2017, @05:22PM (#505020)

  "Although the words gender and sex are often used interchangeably"

  ...is the salient point there unless you're an etymologist.

  Rather boringly, though, having looked at the video in question neither the words "gender" or "sex" feature prominently so we're all arguing over a straw person here... It is "boy" and "girl" but it is clear from the context that they're talking about biological sex. It's also a very short slot about probability that certainly doesn't pretend to be a comprehensive lesson in genetics, so the question is, is it OK to refer to biological sex without always appending an explanation of modern thinking on gender identity?

  Parent