And - wanted to say this before and forgot - צורת הסתמי is everything but neutral. That the male form is used as the general, 'neutral' form, in Hebrew and in other languages, is just proof of the disinclusion of women.
Other than language, I think the most striking examples of the disinclusion of women may be found in medicine. The most famous example: more women than men die from heart attacks. This is also because the symptoms of heart attacks in women are different than in men, and most doctors are still unaware of this. A more daily example: you wouldn't believe the number of doctors who don't know that NSAIDS lower blood pressure. Result? A woman prescribed an NSAID to treat an inflamation she has might reach the ER because the doctor gave her a dosage that'll crash her BP. Men's BP doesn't drop as sharply as women's, and generally is not as low to begin with. But everyone know NSAIDS are bad for the heart - and heart diseases are that much more common in men than in women.
Re: Several thoughts on the subject
And - wanted to say this before and forgot - צורת הסתמי is everything but neutral. That the male form is used as the general, 'neutral' form, in Hebrew and in other languages, is just proof of the disinclusion of women.
Other than language, I think the most striking examples of the disinclusion of women may be found in medicine. The most famous example: more women than men die from heart attacks. This is also because the symptoms of heart attacks in women are different than in men, and most doctors are still unaware of this. A more daily example: you wouldn't believe the number of doctors who don't know that NSAIDS lower blood pressure. Result? A woman prescribed an NSAID to treat an inflamation she has might reach the ER because the doctor gave her a dosage that'll crash her BP. Men's BP doesn't drop as sharply as women's, and generally is not as low to begin with. But everyone know NSAIDS are bad for the heart - and heart diseases are that much more common in men than in women.
(NSAIDS: non-steroid anti-inflamatory drugs. Ibuprofen [Adex, Advil, Nurofen], Naproxen [Nerocin, Naproxi], Etoricoxib [Arcoxia], Vioxx, etc.)