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Etymology and usage
The word female comes from the Latin femella, the diminutive form of femina, meaning "woman," which is not actually related to the word "male." The word was probably originally femella, meaning "young girl." In the late 14th century, the English spelling was altered so that the word paralleled the spelling of "male."
The phrase the female, in the sense of the female sex or the class of all women, figures prominently in the first act of Henry V, in which Henry's bishops discuss with him the right of the French King to his throne—and Henry's right to usurp it. They conclude that the salic law cited by the French is not really French, but German, and that Henry can properly invade France, thus prolonging the Hundred Years' War.
Mammalian female
The distinguishing characteristic of mammalian species is the presence of mammary glands. The mammary glands are modified sweat glands that produce milk, which is used to feed the young during the period of time shortly after birth. Only mammals have the capacity to produce milk. The presence of mammary glands is most obvious on humans, due to the tendency of the female human body to store large amounts of fatty tissue near the nipples, resulting in prominent breasts, although today some human females also surgically augment their breast size. However, mammary glands are present in all mammals, although they are vestigial in the male of the species.
The mammalian female is characterized by having two copies of the X chromosome as opposed to the male which carries only one X and one smaller Y chromosome. To compensate for the difference in size, one of the female's X chromosomes is randomly inactivated in each cell. In birds, by contrast, it is the female who is heterozygous and carries a Z and a W chromosome whilst the male carries two Z chromosomes.
Mammalian females are also unique in that they all bear live young (with the rare exception of monotremes, which lay eggs). However, there are non-mammalian animals (such as sharks) whose eggs hatch inside their bodies, which gives the appearance that they bear live young.
Symbol
A common symbol used to represent the female sex is ♀ (Unicode: U+2640 Alt codes: Alt+12), a circle with a small cross underneath. This symbol also represents the planet Venus and is a stylized representation of the goddess Venus' hand mirrorcitation needed. According to Schott[1], "The most established view is that the male and female symbols "are derived from contractions in Greek script of the Greek names of these planets, namely Thouros (Mars) and Phosphoros (Venus). These derivations have been traced by Renkama[2] who illustrated how Greek letters can be transformed into the graphic male and female symbols still recognised today." Thouros was abbreviated by θρ, and Phosphoros by Φκ, which were contracted into the modern symbols.
Sex determination
The sex of a particular organism may be determined by a number of factors. These may be genetic or environmental, or may naturally change during the course of an organism's life. Although most species with male and female sexes have individuals that are either male or female, hermaphroditic animals have both male and female reproductive organs.
Genetic determination
Most mammals, including humans, are genetically determined as such by the XY sex-determination system where males have an XY (as opposed to XX) sex chromosome. During reproduction, a male can give either an X sperm or a Y sperm, while a female can only give an X egg. A Y sperm and an X egg produce a boy, while an X sperm and an X egg produce a girl. The ZW sex-determination system, where males have a ZZ (as opposed to ZW) sex chromosome may be found in birds and some insects and other organisms. Members of Hymenoptera, such as ants and bees, are determined by haplodiploidy, where most males are haploid and females and some sterile males are diploid.
Environmental determination
Some species develop into one sex or the other depending on local environmental conditions, e.g. many crocodilians' sex is influenced by the temperature of their eggs. Other species (such as the goby) are capable of transforming, as adults, from one sex to the other in response to local reproductive conditions (such as a shortage of males). In humans and most mammals, sex is determined chromosomally -- a Y sperm will produce a male offspring and an X sperm a female.
Sources
Ayers, Donald M. English Words from Latin and Greek Elements. Second Edition. 1986. University of Arizona Press. United States.
References
- ^ Schott GD. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll: Sex symbols ancient and modern: their origins and iconography on the pedigree.BMJ 2005;331:1509-1510 (24 December), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1509
- ^ Renkema HW. Oorspong, beteekenis en toepassing van de in de botanie gebuikelijke teekens ter aanduiding van het geslacht en den levensduur. In: Jeswiet J, ed. Gedendenkboek J Valckenier Suringar. Wageningen: Nederlandsche Dendrologische Vereeniging, 1942: 96-108.
See also
