Placemark for pingout. I just read a little bit (will read tomorrow) but I am so with you on the wrong use of the word “gender”.
I thought this was very interesting. I agree with everyone that using “gender” when “sex” was needed is an error. I got the impression that the experiences of the men quoted by the author, while quite sincere, are also very particular: the experiences of those individual men and the individual women they married.
While certain personality traits were described as distinctly “feminine,” would another observer have seen the same woman as simply a decent human being? Metmom is right on in saying that too much of human variety is ascribed to “gender” or excluded by “gender,” and too little space is given for simply humanity and virtuous character.