Graphic Design Post #6

Graphic Design
Post #6

History of the Male and Female Symbols

By Sammy McCracken

        The highly recognizable male and female symbols have been used by biologists to distinguish between males and females for hundreds of years. But have you ever wondered where these symbols came from and how they came about? Well search no further!

Evolution of the Female Symbol

Evolution of the Male Symbol

These cave drawings were traced back to the prehistoric Mediterranean region. People believe that these symbols were derived from the human sex organs; with the triangle as the 'first' symbol for female and a semi-complex drawing of a penis as the 'first' male symbol (Desfayes).

        Biologists and other scientists also believe that the human sex symbols originated from the symbols for the god Mars and the goddess Venus. In ancient times, people connected the planets with certain metals of the Earth. They often compared spiritual beings, such as the gods and goddess, with physical materials of the Earth. “The Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn were often metaphorically used to signify gold, silver, iron, mercury or quicksilver, copper, tin and lead” (Stearn 109). Rusty colored metals such as iron were associated with the red planet, Mars and copper, which is a softer metal, was associated with Venus. Alchemists used symbols to represent metals as a short-hand in writing their reports. A chemist by the name of J. J. Berzelius created the symbols of ♂, representing iron and Mars, and ♀, representing copper and Venus. A scientist by the name of Linnaeus began using these symbols in his books about plants genetics around 1735 (Stearn 111). He used ♀ to represent the female parent plant, ♂ to represent the male parent plant and another symbol for hybrids of the parent plants. These symbols have become very popular among biologists and transferred their meaning to everyday life. 

Works Cited

Desfayes, Michel. "ORIGIN OF MALE AND FEMALE SYMBOLS." Biology Forum 98. (2005): 
               197-202. Print. <http://www.michel-desfayes.org/malefemalesymbols.html>.

Stearn, William. "The Origin of the Male and Female Symbols of Biology." Taxon. 11.4 (1962): 
               109-113. Web. 25 Apr. 2012. 
               <http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.emich.edu/stable/pdfplus/1217734.pdf>.