gendering

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The act of assigning a gender to a person or thing.

   The gendering of professions as male or female shapes children's career choices.

   Critics objected to the automatic gendering of robots with female voices.

   Note

   Unlike the verb form, this noun can be counted. In the plural it names particular ways something is gendered rather than the process in general. Jane Gallop's Anecdotal Theory (2002) speaks of "genderings of the pedagogical relation," each of which, she argues, shapes the question of authority. The plural suits writing that sets several competing assignments side by side.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of gender.

   Advertisers are gendering everyday items, from razors to pens.

   Gendering nouns is a feature of many languages.

   Note

   This form does two grammatical jobs. As a participle it follows be in progressive verbs (advertisers are gendering razors). As a gerund it heads a noun-like phrase that still takes a direct object (gendering nouns). That object is the tell: the noun for the practice needs of instead (the gendering of nouns) and can be made plural, genderings. In older texts the same spelling may come from gender's archaic sense, "to engender."

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