gentle sex

American  

Or gentler sex

noun

Older Use: Sometimes Offensive.

1. women in general (usually used facetiously).

   courtesy toward the gentle sex.

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Sensitive Note

This is a dated term, usually used for humorous effect but sometimes perceived as condescending to women. It makes reference to a stereotype of women’s basic nature, namely that women are gentle in comparison to men.

Etymology

Origin of gentle sex

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

The scenes of sexual violence feel relevant, raw and true to life, and they are effectively contrasted against scenes of consensual, if rarely gentle, sex.

From Los Angeles Times

It is easy to buy into the cultural stereotype of “the gentle sex,” but it simply isn’t true.

From Scientific American

Beechey says Eliza "gives as good as she gets" and triumphs by becoming independent of Higgins, who thought - not having any understanding of the gentle sex - that if he pulled the guttersnipe out of the gutter he could control her, too.

From Reuters

The convulsionist, who was of the gentle sex, would not allow sixty blows she had received from her first doctor to be included in the calculation of the dose, but insisted upon having her whole hundred as prescribed.

From Project Gutenberg

I well remember the complaint of Willis, a lover of the gentle sex, and not likely to have told a lie against a charming young person; I quote from my rusty memory, but I believe correctly: She trifled! ay, that angel maid, She trifled where the dead was laid.

From Project Gutenberg