Define furniture

This suggestion might help if you get in a situation where someone asks you to define what a woman or man is. As the topic of transgenderism has become a hot topic, this may come up more than ever before.

Note: Usually, I try to share things I have learned and then tried out for myself, but I thought this was so interesting and thought provoking, I am sharing it right away.  Please let me know if you try it and how it works.

I heard this idea on a podcast from a scholar named Dan McClellan, who studies cognitive linguistics – which refers to how we process words. Here is what he has to say about why it is so difficult to define words using an example from the New York Times. He says is that defining words is tough and not very useful. 

And here is a link to the podcast in which he makes a suggestion on how to deal with people who want to start contentious conversations about how to define things like gender. To get that point across, when he is asked the question “define what a woman is”, he says to start with defining a less polarizing word, like “furniture”. (Note the topic of this podcast is  about religion). Look for episode 240 on April 10, 2023.

What might this look like?  Let’s play out what the conversation might look like:

The other person:  I am mad about the whole transgender thing in sports and in bathrooms! I know what a woman is, it’s simple.  But what do you say a woman is?

You: It seems like defining things should be simple, but I hear that the people who study this kind of thing say its harder than we think.  For example, one expert suggests that instead of starting with a loaded topic like “define a woman” , we should start with a less emotional topic. He suggests one, to start by defining “furniture”.  Are you willing to start with that first before we get to the difficult topic?

Other person: Sure, why not?  How hard can it be?

You: Ok, so let’s start with the dictionary definition.  Here’s one I just found:

“equipment that is necessary, useful, or desirable: such as movable articles used in readying an area (such as a room or patio) for occupancy or use” (from Merriam Webster) link:

Do you agree with that?  Are there any exceptions to that? 

Other person: Well, it sounds good as a starting point, but what about built in furniture, it doesn’t include that. Like the window seat under that window nook that your uncle Dan built. Or the built-in bookcase in Grandma’s house.

You: You’re right, the definition isn’t quite expansive enough to include that window seat or the built-in bookcase. You know what else I was thinking about. I remember when I had my first apartment, I didn’t have any furniture, so I used milk crates and boards for shelves and cardboard boxes for a night stand and a dresser.  That would fit the definition, but neither of them is really furniture.   I guess that the expert means when he says that definitions are hard. So, let’s not talk about the definition of a woman since  it will be even harder than defining furniture.

Please let me know if you try this and how it works out.

A side note: Poking around on his new website I discovered a course he did on homosexuality and the Bible, which also might be useful for those who might get into these types of conversations.

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