Was it necessary to put female in the title?

[ComedyPilot]

If the gender of the cyclist was important enough to be reported, then what about the gender of the driver of the vehicle involved?

 

[classic33]

If the gender of the cyclist was important enough to be reported, then what about the gender of the driver of the vehicle involved?

40 year old male.

 

[ComedyPilot]

40 year old male.

In the title I meant, sorry

 

[marknotgeorge]

My understanding is that it is all much simpler than that. It was a person who was killed and their gender was of no relevance so why refer to it at all.

I agree about the irrelevance of the gender. Where I disagree is whether the presence of the word 'female' matters or not.

I think I'll leave it there. My attempts at showing that I'm thinking about what I'm saying are having mixed success, I feel.

 

[MontyVeda]

... It was a person who was killed and their gender was of no relevance so why refer to it at all.

quite... why even mention a 'cyclist' was killed... as that's also of no relevance when a 'person' is killed.

pub quiz....

person killed by car
man killed by car
woman Killed by car

...which of the above terms are 'sexist' ?

 

[MontyVeda]

I'm sorry, you have missed the point.

there is no point... you appear to be trying to find sexism where there isn't any. Unless of course the point is for you to stand out as being 'more PC than thou'.

Are we allowed to say 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend' in TMN world?

 

[classic33]

This should be placed in Current Affairs & Debates. A few people seeking to score points against each other & very little else.

 

[MontyVeda]

Of course we are. Do try and be a bit more grown up in your responses.

just checking.... I'm not being immature, just treading on eggshells trying not to offend.

 

[classic33]

MV, that was blinking quick.

 

[classic33]

Would you like to take part in the discussion? Perhaps you can suggest an answer to the question I asked MarkF, that might be more interesting.

Not interested in point scoring, over the death of someone whatever their race, creed, colour or anything else not directly related to the incident. My post on here with regards male cyclist killed in accident was done for two reasons.
One. To show that the press does report male cyclists killed in accident
Two. To show how to different papers reported the same incident. You can check that one yourself, its been posted on here, in both forms!

 

[classic33]

I'd say your needles stuck, as you're just repeating yourself now.

 

[RedRider]

Not sure how relevant this is but reading back issues of a local newspaper from the '70s it was remarkable how just about any story featuring any woman mentioned in whatever context would contain a description of her appearance and probably her marital status. So something like: 'Blonde Lawyer Wins Case. The petite 30-year-old said: "..." etc
These 'simple descriptors' betray and surely reinforced a (perhaps) unthinking attitude of 'she's successful but take heed ladies and listen up gents cos this is the important bit, she's a bit of a looker and one day there's a fair chance she'll pack it all in and have a man's children.'
There's no way that same paper would write stuff like that these days and that's cos people questioned it. Others wouldn't have given it a second thought until then.
Going back to the OP, 'Was it necessary to put female in the title?' is an excellent question. I say that as a feminist who tries not to be sexist but probably fails more often than he thinks.

 

[Risex4]

User13710

I am still struggling to understand your point of view. To my mind, "sexism" or any other form of prejudicial behaviour is defined as that which devalues a person or persons into a negative light, makes assumptions as to their aptitude or ability, or otherwise differentiates them based on an social attribute which has no actual baring on the person's ability to perform a task or other individual traits.

You asked MarkF

Yes MarkF, your assumption is pretty normal, but that doesn't make it unassailable. Can you explain exactly why it might have been "an appropriate time to use an adjective"?

Whilst I don't mean to speak for Mark, but as you've challenged others to answer, I'd say this. A cyclist was tragically killed. The cyclist was a female. It is a valid description. No assertion was made in the title or subsequent thread that gender had any relation to the event. I don't get how it can be "inappropriate", let alone sexist.
That's an honest question. I am genuinely intrigued as to what you have seen that makes you feel that "Female Cyclist Down" is an inappropriate or potentially sexist comment. I'm not looking to "shoot you down", I'm interested in - as I said previously - the ethical balance of language.

 

[Darren Jeffrey]

 

[Risex4]

Because all the other threads don't say male cyclist down.

I'm not arguing that the use of the gender was redundant information. I just don't believe that it follows that redundant = sexist.

If you can't see that you've answered your own question there, then there's nothing I can do to clarify this one further, sorry.

What?