Re^7: Demotions of monks (updated)

in reply to Re^6: Demotions of monks (updated)
in thread Demotions of monks

The proper word would be "excluding", but that still sounds somewhat awkward

I was thinking that "female-exclusive" would be taken to mean "exclusive of females".
If I wanted to convey "exclusively female", then I would have used that exact phrase. It might have been clearer if I had written "exclusively male".

The level "Patriarch" is the only level that I regard as "male only" - though my 25-year-old Concise Oxford Dictionary decrees that a "monk" is male.
All of the other levels look gender-neutral (ie implying neither male nor female) to me - and I still find it interesting (and mildly unsettling) that, in 2021, we have created this specifically male level named "Patriarch".

Cheers,
Rob

Comment on Re^7: Demotions of monks (updated)

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Re^8: Demotions of monks (updated) by jdporter (Chancellor) on Jan 07, 2022 at 14:47 UTC
... we have created this specifically male level named "Patriarch" Well, again, it's no more male than "pope". Do you have any suggestions? Lama, it turns out, may be somewhat female leaning, according to wikipedia. Otoh, it's not as high a rank as I assumed. Finding a term which connotes a very high rank yet is gender neutral seems a bit of a challenge. I reckon we are the only monastery ever to have a dungeon staffed with 16,000 zombies.	[reply]
Re^9: Demotions of monks (updated) by 1nickt (Canon) on Jan 07, 2022 at 14:57 UTC
There is historical evidence that as mentioned by choroba there has been at least one female Pope. Or historical lore at least. But given that "Matriarch" exists as a word I don't think one can argue that "Patriarch" is anything but male-specific. The way forward always starts with a minimal test.	[reply]
Re^10: Demotions of monks (updated) by jdporter (Chancellor) on Jan 07, 2022 at 16:22 UTC
There is historical evidence that as mentioned by choroba there has been at least one female Pope Pope Joan was a legendary, not historical. I don't think one can argue that "Patriarch" is anything but male-specific. Indeed, and I'm not arguing that. I'm still hoping that someone can suggest non-gender-specific high-level rank titles. I reckon we are the only monastery ever to have a dungeon staffed with 16,000 zombies.	[reply]

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