Why does emasculate mean "to deprive of virility," but effeminate means "to have feminine qualities?"
by 
KagomeShuko
ANSWERS: 3
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Like James brown said: It's a man's world. In a male dominated society from milleniums of male dominance, so has the linguitic patterns of society taken the same tone. Plus there is no outer organ to lop off a woman to defeminate them.
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I have tried to find a word that would be the equivalent of emasculate when referring to a woman. The closest would be defeminize and there is no defemulate. And as Kevin said...it is a man's world.
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Because of their original, Latin definitions. Emasculate is from the Latin "emasculatus," past participle of "emasculare," to "castrate." Effeminate is from "effeminatus," past participle of "effeminare," to "make a woman of."
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