If something is inherent, it is a natural and essential part of something and cannot be separated from it. It belongs to the thing by its very nature.
It comes from Latin “inhaerere,” meaning “to stick in” or “to cling to,” from “in-” (in) and “haerere” (to stick). The idea is of a quality that is stuck inside something.
Inherent qualities are like built-in settings—you can’t remove them without changing what the thing is. The word’s root image is something *stuck* inside, not just lightly attached. When people argue about whether a trait is inherent or learned, they’re really asking: can this be changed, or is it part of the core?
Claims about ‘inherent’ traits have been used to naturalize gender roles, asserting that women or men are inherently suited or unsuited to certain tasks or domains. Such language often masked social conditioning as nature.
Use ‘inherent’ cautiously for human traits; avoid asserting that abilities or roles are inherently tied to gender.
["built-in (for systems)","intrinsic (with evidence)","structural (for social patterns)"]
When discussing supposed inherent gender traits, reference research showing how women and other genders have succeeded across domains once barriers are reduced.
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