Where do the symbols of male and female come from?

The meaning of popular male and female symbols today may not be known to everyone. Let's learn more about male and female symbols !

Gender symbols are probably familiar to all of us. You see them everywhere – from book covers, to necklaces, to advertising – and they are always associated with gender when going somewhere, most notably when going to the bathroom. Today, the female gender symbol represents feminism, pride in being a woman, and pride in sisterhood. There are also versions of the male and female gender symbol that represent pride for different sexual orientations, that is, one with two linked male symbols is the symbol used by gay men, one with the wearer’s gender falling between a male and a female symbol represents intersex, the transgender community uses a few modifications that combine both symbols together as well as applying the symbol for Mercury in the Linnaean sense (see chart), etc., etc.

However, do you know the origin of this gender symbol? If not, let's find out together!

Representing two planets, two metals iron and copper and the gods of Olympus, the classic symbols of the male and female genders carry a lot of hidden meaning within the squiggly lines.

The symbols themselves are ancient and the associations go back to the dawn of civilization. The ancients, after observing the movements of the planets in the solar system, made predictions about future events and believed that these events were connected by cause and effect. Later, ancient scholars began to conduct more logical research to accurately predict and prepare for the future. They also associated the planets with the powers of their guardian gods such as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Zeus (Jupiter) and Cronus (Saturn).

Each celestial body, along with its guardian deity, is associated with a particular metal element. For example, the sun god Helios is associated with the metal, especially gold ( Note: in the human visual spectrum, the Sun is actually white, not gold ); the god Mars ( Thorus in Greek ) is associated with iron, which is used to make weapons; and the god Venus ( Phosphorus in Greek ) is associated with the softer metal, copper, which can turn green.

When writing about these metals, the Greeks introduced them by the names of the gods - symbols combined with letters, after a while a kind of shorthand was formed; for example, the god Mars (Thourus) and the god Venus (Phosphorus):

During the Middle Ages, European alchemists relied on the retained abbreviations for clarification and use, as did the famous Carolus Linnaeus (the " father" of modern Taxonomy and creator of the popular Binary language ), indicating the corresponding metals in his 1735 study Systema Naturae.

Linnaeus was also the first to use these symbols in a biological context in his 1751 treatise Plantae Hybridae, when he used the symbol Venus to represent Female and the symbol Mars to represent Male . Linnaeus then continued to use the symbols for purposes of distinguishing between Male and Female sexes and by " Species Plantarum " in 1753, he used the symbols freely.

Following Linnaeus, other botanists began to use symbols, as did scientists from other fields including zoology, biology, anthropology, and eventually geneticists.

Nowadays, modern genetics no longer uses the familiar symbols and instead, gender is represented based on a square for Male and a circle for Female:

These symbols were developed by Pliny Earle - a New York neurologist in 1845 while explaining the inheritance of color blindness:

For the purpose of clearly illustrating the prevalence of this physiological peculiarity in the family, I have prepared the subjoined genealogical chart. Males are represented by squares and females by circles.

In order to clearly illustrate this physiological proportion in families, I have prepared the following pedigree charts. Males are represented by squares and females by circles.

While it remains unclear why Earle chose not to use classical symbols, a later explanation was offered by a Royal Society member - Sir Edward Nettleship stated that Earle " could not have used these classical characters on the press... except by those employed in the printing of music ".

Frequently asked questions about female and male gender symbols

How to type female symbols on computer?

• On Windows: Alt + 9792
• Word shortcut: 2640 Alt + X
• Mac shortcut: Opt + 2640

How to type male symbol on computer?

• Windows shortcut: Alt + 9794
• Word shortcut: 2642 Alt + X
• Mac shortcut: Opt + 2642

What does the female symbol look like?

It looks like a circle with a cross growing out of it.

Here are some other gender symbols you should know:

• ⚦ ⚨ ⚩: androgynous / transgender / transsexual / intersex / alchemical symbol for iron, iron metal
• ⚲: neutral, eunuch, genderless
• ⚪: asexual, genderless, genderless; engaged, betrothed.

In short:

The male (♂) and female (♀) symbols we commonly see today – for example on public restrooms, in biology, etc. – actually have a very interesting and ancient origin, dating back to ancient times, with links between astronomy, astrology, and Greco-Roman mythology.

1. Male symbol: ♂

• This is the symbol of Mars in ancient astronomy.
• In Roman mythology, Mars represents the god of war Mars.
• The shape of the ♂ symbol is said to mimic the shield and spear of the god Mars.

Later, 18th century biologist Carl Linnaeus used this symbol to represent the male sex in biological descriptions.

2. Female symbol: ♀

• It is the symbol of Venus, representing the goddess Venus - the goddess of beauty and love in Roman mythology.