Hi Syd,

Thank you for posting!

If you have questions about the lessons, please let us know.

Ofelia

Team PortuguesePod101.com

I am left wondering how old this audio is because "Stewardess" has not been in regular use for at least a decade and I'd say more than two even. Instead it is "Flight Attendant" or "Cabin Crew" which are gender inclusive. And "Actor" is perfectly acceptable for anyone who acts. English has become quite gender neutral in the last 40 to 50 years. There is even quite a lot about it on the internet. So, this lesson perpetuates what is now an outdated language myth.

However, the "idiot" part of this exercise both in the audio and text really comes off quite harsh and pejorative, especially when it is the opposite, slamming us for not using what have now become quite archaic words.

"Idiot" was once a medical term for people who do not have an average or above average IQ. This word and several others referred to the degree of "deficit" based on what are, by some measures, arbitrary IQ points (since not everyone learns the same as everyone else, nor the same things). However, no matter how "stupid" someone is, they usually understand enough to know they are being used as a comparison to insult others. This is also why the current wave of the "R" word is so completely offensive (and not so much to the targets of these insults as it is to the innocents who through no fault of their own are not considered worthy enough for respect by so many people).

http://www.r word.org/

Hello Miemie,

Thanks for posting!

It's great you're learning well:thumbsup:

If you have any doubts, we're here to help :wink:

Cristiane

Team Portuguesepod101.com

Muito obrigada para explicar isto e isso. Estou a entender muito bem agora!

Hi Kenneth,

Thanks for your comments.

If you have any doubts, please let us know :wink:

Cristiane

Team Portuguesepod101.com

We use the terms MASCULINE and FEMININE, but the best way to grasp the concept of gender based nouns is to simple think of two groups. All nouns fall into either one group or the other.

An easy way to understand this is to think of how vehicles are always referred to as SHE or HER,

Hello Dave,

Thanks for posting!

Nouns in Portuguese are gender specific and for that reason, there will either be a variation in the word (for example: the teacher = o professor (masculine - with the use of the article "o" which is gender specific and the word itself "professor) / a professora (feminine; article "a"; word itself "professora") or in the article that precedes it (for example: the student = o estudante (masculine, using the article "o" to define the gender) / a estudante (feminine, article "a").

There are other situations in which the noun could be considered neutral, and is used to name people, for example: the child, "a criança" is valid for both masculine and feminine gender; or to name animals, for example, the giraffe, "a girafa".

Due to this characteristic of the language it is very difficult to not use gender specific words :wink:

Here's one extra lesson about Portuguese Grammatical Gender:

https://www.portuguesepod101.com/2012/05/22/lower-intermediate-21-deciphering-portuguese-grammatical-gender/#lc_vocabulary_list

If you have any doubts, please contact us :wink:

Cristiane

Team Portuguesepod101.com

Having had a few years of Spanish in junior/senior high school helps me remember the broader use of gender in Portuguese - but I still sometimes am challenged with gender-agreement. The example in this lesson ("He is a stewardess") helps relate it to English - though gender-specific titles seem to be gradually getting eradicated from English (at least American English) as Sarah pointed out. Is this the case in Brazil?

Excuse me: I think I hear the "letter carrier" outside... :wink:

Dave

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for posting. We appreciate very much your suggestions.

If you have any doubts, please let us know :wink:

Cristiane

Team Portuguesepod101.com

Hi, guys, this isn't a comment about your Portuguese but about your English. "Actor," and "Sculptor," like

"Doctor" and "Professor" are rapidly becoming gender neutral. It would NOT be incorrect to say "She is an actor" any more than it's incorrect to say "She is a poet," and would sound funny to call her a "poetess." Maybe a better example to illustrate masculine and feminine to a neophyte would be "She is a Mother," or "She is

a soprano." Tchao,

(I used to be a French teacher.)