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The optometrist
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2024
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Tangentially, is "bastard" gendered? It feels like it's always applied to men, so it seems gendered. And yet, the original meaning of the word "bastard"--someone born out of wedlock--doesn't imply any kind of gender.
So it struck me as weird that this person would call themselves a bastard. nbd, just thought it was odd
The original legal definition of bastard is any child born outside of marriage. I would assume the reason why it applies mostly to sons is because the law used to prevent bastards from receiving inheritance and royal titles. Daughters already had difficulty receiving these things, so a bastard daughter wasn't much different than a legitimate daughter.
In modern times, almost all legalities around bastard children have been removed from law since most children are bastards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legitimacy_(family_law)
I think you're misinterpreting some of that info. There are a number of countries where children born out of wedlock are the majority, primarily in Latin America and Western Europe. In America, it seems to be hovering around 40% for the last 8 years and worldwide it's about 15 percent, with Asia doing a lot to keep that number down.
If not by definition, I feel like it shifted more towards the masculine counterpart to "bitch"(or "whore", in some periods) as an insult in colloquial usage.
I lived in co-op housing during college, which was (loosely) administered by the university and separated into different buildings by gender. One year my hall started a rapidly-escalating prank war with a women's hall when some guys testing a water balloon launcher accidentally put a balloon through their back window from like 100 yards away. Things culminated in a massive water balloon fight on the campus quad that both sides referred to as the "Bitches and Bastards Brawl."
The past truly is another country.
Bastard is not gendered in any way.