David said,
"Seminal" comes from the Latin word for "seed". Same root as
"semen" but it doesn't derive from the name of the stuff men
produce.
So a seminal work is a seminal work. It has nothing to do with
the sex of the author.
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I hesitate to weigh in, having been nastily flamed for this comment two
years ago (on this very list), but in my dictionary, seminal is "of,
relating to, or consisting of seed or semen." The reference is clearly to
the male "seed," not plants, etc. When you show me a woman with seminal
vesicles or seminal fluid, I'll accept your argument. :-)
How about "germinal"? "Being in the earliest stage of development." It
might feel a touch awkward, but didn't "police officer" and "mail carrier"
at first?
Gender and language are at the heart of so many great science fiction
works, shouldn't we pay careful attention to our every day speech?
geting off the Tide box now,
Roberta
Roberta S. Johnson, Fiction_L Manager
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Morton Grove Public Library http://nsn.nslsilus.org/FICTION_L/index.html
"All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect
official library policy."
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