"♀" and "♂" redirect here. For their use for Venus and Mars, see Planet symbols.
Gender symbols on a public toilet in Switzerland
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]
^Stearn, William T. (May 1962). "The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology". Taxon. 11 (4): 109–113. doi:10.2307/1217734. JSTOR 1217734. S2CID 87030547.
^Niki Simpson, Botanical symbols: a new symbol set for new images, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, Volume 162, Issue 2, February 2010, Pages 117–129
^Glancey, Jonathan (11 September 2014). "The genius behind the stick figure toilet signs". BBC Future. 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.
A gendersymbol is a pictogram or glyph used to represent sex and gender, for example in biology and medicine, in genealogy, or in the sociological fields...
sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender expression. Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories...
culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag. The female and male gendersymbols are derived from...
Typographical symbols and punctuation marks are marks and symbols used in typography with a variety of purposes such as to help with legibility and accessibility...
A planet symbol or planetary symbol is a graphical symbol used in astrology and astronomy to represent a classical planet (including the Sun and the Moon)...
and smaller breasts and nipples. Throughout human history, traditional gender roles have often defined and limited men's activities and opportunities...
transgender symbols include the butterfly (symbolizing transformation or metamorphosis), and a pink/light blue yin and yang symbol. Several gendersymbols have...
history, traditional gender roles within societies have often defined and limited women's activities and opportunities, resulting in gender inequality; many...
The infinity symbol (∞) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a lemniscate, after the lemniscate curves...
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the...
Gender sensitization is the process teaching of gender sensitivity and encouragement of behavior modification through raising awareness of gender equality...
marks, boxes, or other symbols. Historically, astrological and astronomical symbols have overlapped. Frequently used symbols include signs of the zodiac...
Meaning | Gender & Sexuality". Dictionary.com. 12 March 2018. Archived from the original on 2023-02-13. Retrieved 2023-01-22. "Flags and Symbols" (PDF)....
specialized symbols (see article for list) DOT pictograms ISO 7001 Exit sign, a.k.a. "running man" Gendersymbols for public toilets Map symbol Japanese...
certain symbols, especially the rainbow or rainbow flags. The Greek lambda symbol ("L" for liberation), triangles, ribbons, and gendersymbols are also...
Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither a man or woman. It is also a social category...
Gender transition is the process of changing one's gender presentation or sex characteristics to accord with one's internal sense of gender identity –...
An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell)...
A gender role, or sex role, is a set of socially accepted behaviors and attitudes deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their sex. Gender...
also commonly called the at symbol, commercial at, or address sign. The absence of a single English word for the symbol has prompted some writers to...
originating in the early 2000s. Another variation with the male and female gendersymbols imposed over its field also exists. In 2015, the Russian political party...
exhibit gender variance may be called gender-variant, gender-nonconforming, gender-diverse, or gender-atypical. The terms gender variance and gender-variant...
is an extension of the Trans symbol with the male and female symbols, a combined symbol representing those with a gender identity combining male and female...
characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression. When androgyny refers to mixed biological sex characteristics...
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