quality of being easily affected or responsive
from Latin sensus 'feeling'
Sensitivity is your sense-ability to feel deeply!
Historically coded as feminine weakness and grounds for excluding women from leadership, medicine, and public roles. Medicine dismissed women's health concerns as 'female sensitivity' despite legitimate symptoms.
Use 'sensitivity' for technical/analytical contexts (sensitivity analysis, sensor sensitivity). When discussing emotional responsiveness, specify the skill: 'attunement,' 'discernment,' or 'contextual awareness' rather than allowing gendered assumptions.
["attunement","discernment","responsiveness","calibration"]
Women's medical and emotional expertise—long dismissed as 'sensitivity'—now anchors fields like psychology, somatic work, and trauma-informed practice.
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