女

This is a pictograph depicting a woman sitting on her knees with her chest exposed, or alternatively, a woman kneeling with her hands clasped.

It shares its origin with the character 母 (mother); the difference is that 母 has two dots in the middle symbolizing nipples, which 女 lacks.

Because most literate people who created these ancient characters were dominant males of the ruling class, many characters using 女 as a radical reflect gender role stereotypes from a patriarchal perspective, often attributing negative meanings to women.

Among the characters that use 女 (woman) as a radical, quite a few carry negative meanings.

Notable examples include:

嫌 (to dislike)

奸 (deceitful, crafty)

妨 (to obstruct)

The character 姦, which contains three 女 radicals, means “to commit adultery.”

Although not shown in the image, others like 奴 (slave), 妄 (delusion), and 妓 (courtesan) also carry negative connotations.

Even characters without the 女 radical, such as 肗 (to rot), can have negative meanings.

A severe example is 妥 (appropriate, proper), whose origin is said to depict a hand pressing down on a woman.

However, not all characters with the 女 radical have negative meanings. There are many with neutral or positive meanings, such as:

好 (good, to like)

始 (to begin)

姜 (a surname)

如 (to resemble, to follow)

妙 (wonderful)

姓 (surname)

委 (to entrust)

姿 (posture, appearance)

威 (majesty, dignity)

娛 (to entertain)

妖/姚 (beautiful)

嬉 (joyful, beautiful)

妟/侒 (peaceful), and more

If this radical only contained characters with bad meanings, it would be classified under radicals such as 死 (death radical) or 疒 (sickness radical), which predominantly have negative meanings.

Even among positive characters, many reflect the gender roles and realities of women at the time they were created.

For example, 如 (to resemble, to follow) is said to symbolize a woman following a man’s words, and 威 (majesty) may have originated from a man threatening a woman with an axe.