Radical 38 or radical woman () meaning "

woman A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regard ...

" or "

female Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...

" is one of the 31 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals total) composed of three

strokes Stroke (also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or brain attack) is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, ...

. In the ''

Kangxi Dictionary The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' ( (Compendium of standard characters from the Kangxi period), published in 1716, was the most authoritative dictionary of Chinese characters from the 18th century through the early 20th. The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing ...

'', there are 681 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. is also the 56th indexing component in the '' Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components'' predominantly adopted by

Simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions ...

dictionaries published in

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater Chin ...

Evolution

File:女-oracle.svg,

Oracle bone script Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest kno ...

character File:女-bronze.svg,

Bronze script Chinese bronze inscriptions, also commonly referred to as bronze script or bronzeware script, are writing in a variety of Chinese scripts on ritual bronzes such as ''zhōng'' bells and '' dǐng'' tripodal cauldrons from the Shang dynasty (2nd m ...

character File:女-bigseal.svg, Large seal script character File:女-seal.svg,

Small seal script The small seal script (), or Qin script (, ''Qínzhuàn''), is an archaic form of Chinese calligraphy. It was standardized and promulgated as a national standard by the government of Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Chinese Qin dynasty. Name ...

character

Derived characters

Controversies over sexism

Some

feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

have claimed that many Chinese characters under radical woman are

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

, (slave), (demon), (JP: , envy), (Simp.: , rape, traitor), (dislike) for example, and learning and using them may unconsciously lead to

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced ...

. Some have even proposed a reform of these characters. In 2010, a mainland Chinese male lawyer posted an essay online, in which he criticized 16 Chinese characters for their sexist implication. The 16 characters were (, entertainment), (to play with, usually classified under radical 126 ), (greedy), (envy), (envy), (dislike), (flattery), (presumptuous), (demon), (slave), (prostitute), (whore), (, rape, traitor), (extramarital sex), (bitch), and (to visit prostitutes). He also proposed a reform of some characters, e.g. replace with a newly created Chinese character "" (: dog, usually associated with monsters or uncivilized actions. : behaviors. The proposed character therefore implies rape is a monstrous behavior.), believing that the change would reduce

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

cases. Opponents argued that the new characters were historically unsound; that even if they were adopted, they would remain specious and would not effectively improve female's social status. They also pointed out that improvements in legal and social culture aspects were the actual remedy of sexism. In 2015, an exhibition in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

entitled "姦: Cultural Codes of Gender Violence" () organized by 65 artists was canceled by the authority. Still, the idea of this exhibition made its way through international media outlets. Tong Yujie (), the exhibition's academic convener, questioned in her writing: "Why did one woman become three, and such a symbol of political and moral imagination and an object of enmity in traditional Chinese society and political theory?" A 2014 study done by Wang Yuping from

Anhui University Anhui University (), colloquially known in Chinese as An Da (安大, ''Āndà''), is located in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, China. Founded in 1928 in Anqing, named 'National Anhui University' in 1946 and moved to Hefei in 1958, ...

's School of Chinese Language and Literature analyzed all Chinese characters under radical woman in a concise edition of '' Hanyu Da Cidian'' (). The result shows that among these characters, there are 56 with negative meaning, 70 with positive meaning, and 184 are neutral. Nonetheless, the author believed that some of these categories suggested discrimination in traditional Chinese culture. Similar controversies also exist in "gendered" European languages which have divisions between masculine and feminine terms. This phenomenon is called

linguistic sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primaril ...

Literature

* *

References

External links

Unihan Database - U+5973
{{Simplified Chinese radicals

038 38 may refer to: *38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 *one of the years 38 BC, AD 38, 1938, 2038 *.38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges **.38 Special, a revolver cartridge *'' Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transfo ...

056 56 may refer to: * 56 (number) * one of the years 56 BC, AD 56, 1856 Events January–March * January 8 – Borax deposits are discovered in large quantities by John Veatch in California. * January 23 – American paddle steame ...

Terms for women