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Netball was what females most likely chose to play here despite its unpopularity among the opposite gender.

Does "the opposite gender" correctly refer to males in general here?

By the way, I don't want to post another question just for this, so if you don't mind, should there be a comma before "despite"? This is not the main question, though.

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    Yes. a comma would be useful and yes, opposite gender means males here. But the sentence is rather awkward and a little coy. I would say, Most women here chose to play netball, despite its unpopularity among men. You could move 'here' to just before the comma if the location is important.
    – Old Brixtonian
    Commented Mar 29 at 3:49
  • Thank you! A little context to explain why I wanted to avoid using "men" here. The whole sentence is: "Soccer was the most common sport among males, while netball was what females most likely chose to play despite its unpopularity among the opposite gender." Since I've already used "males" earlier in the sentence, I find writing "males" again a bit repetitive. As for "men", does using "males" then "females" but then switching to "men" make your writing look inconsistent?
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Mar 29 at 4:00
  • Could you please make some comments on both the repetition part and the switching-to-another-noun part?
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Mar 29 at 4:02
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    Your question's title quotes the two-word phrase "the gender". However, as your question's text clarifies, the important phrase is "the opposite gender". The phrase "the gender" is strange, but the phrase "the opposite gender" is idiomatic. And you don't mean people of one sex, you mean people of one gender.
    – Rosie F
    Commented Mar 29 at 6:43
  • @Ken Adams: There are several problems here. People would probably know what you meant by "Soccer was the most common sport among males", but it might be better written as: "The men preferred playing soccer: the women, netball - despite the men's aversion to it." You ask about how your writing looks. Perhaps you should think more about how it sounds. Also, it's a common mistake, but likely means probable: not probably. So "what females most probable chose to play" is wrong.
    – Old Brixtonian
    Commented Mar 29 at 7:42

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It is "awkward". It seems like you are avoiding saying the word "men". There are some words that are taboo in English, and we might use expressions of various complexity to avoid insulting people, and that's what it looks like you are doing if you use "the opposite gender".

From a strictly technical point of view it is also incorrect. "Gender" is a property of nouns in certain languages (such as Latin, French or German). It is sometimes by extension used to talk about people, but some consider that to be a misuse of the word. People have sex, not gender.

So keep it simple. Women (not females) chose to play netball, but it was unpopular with men. The comma helps but probably isn't required.

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    It amuses (and mildly annoys) me that the church I go to is constantly tweaking the words of familiar hymns so as to avoid the word men - I call it " the M-word". (I'm all in favour of inclusive language in new texts, but do they have to alter well-known old ones?)
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Mar 29 at 9:07
  • Thank you! What is the difference between women and females in writing by the way?
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Mar 29 at 10:21
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    "Female" can be used of animals too. "Female" can be used as an adjective, but "woman" means "adult female person", so if you are talking specifically about people, it is usually better to use "men" and "women" rather than "males" and "females". But it is a minor point, which doesn't affect understanding. The problem with "woman" is that it means "adult female person" and so can exclude female children.
    – James K
    Commented Mar 29 at 10:26
  • Could I please ask you a private question about how the forum works in chat? I've created a chat room to invite you to but I have no idea how to do it.
    – An IELTS Learner
    Commented Mar 29 at 10:50
  • No need for it to be private. If it is a question about how the forum works, the best thing to do would be to ask it in English Language Learners Meta That way it can help others.
    – James K
    Commented Mar 29 at 12:29

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