Doug Ewell wrote:
> I have sometimes wondered why these two useful, pre-existing symbols
> are not used in the U.S. to denote 'male' and 'female' on
> e.g. restroom
> doors. One possibility is that, because they are frequently
> associated
> with 'sexuality' or 'relations between the sexes,' they are
> somehow felt
> to be inappropriate for other types of male/female distinctions like
> restrooms and locker rooms. It may not make much sense, but
> after all,
> we are talking about American customs.
Perhaps, it means that average Americans are too much learned in astronomy
(or astrology), and cannot dissociate these symbols from the Solar System's
planets Mars and Venus.
Or that they are too fond in classical culture, and cannot dissociate them
from the Roman gods called by the same names (the god of war and the goddess
of love, respectively).
Moreover, the Venus symbol is very associated with Women's Liberation
movement, and we all know the allergy of American for politically marked
things.
_ Marco
:-( For the sake of Mars and Venus, I've done it one more time! As everybody
else, I am wishing for this mutant off-topic thread to die out but, as many
others, I cannot refrain to feed it once in a while :-)
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