Equalization of gender

The Free Press has a cartoon by Mike Thompson showing Michigan Attorney General Bill Scheutte doing battle with rainbow windmills.



Almost 25 years ago I moved to Cologne, Germany for two years as part of my job in the auto industry. I learned some German -- I could go into a restaurant, speak to the waiter, and know what I'm getting -- but not very much. As any non-native speaker I had difficulties with the gender of nouns. A dog is considered masculine so it is der hund but other words (and I can't remember any) are feminine and get die and others are neutral and get das. Mark Twain famously noted that a turnip has a gender while a female child does not.

But changing and equalization of gender roles is challenging linguists and everyday speakers. Perhaps this cumbersome system of gender for nouns might fade away.