Not having people operating or controlling something, or lacking courage or strength (an older meaning).
From 'un-' (not) plus 'manned' (operated by people or possessing courage). Modern usage focuses on vehicles without humans (drones, satellites), while older uses meant lacking masculine strength.
Unmanned drones have completely changed warfare and exploration—they can do dangerous jobs without risking human lives, but they also raise big questions about who's responsible when something goes wrong with a machine that makes decisions.
Unmanned (as in 'unmanned vehicle') conflates 'staffed by people' with 'staffed by men,' rendering women invisible. The term assumes default operator is male, and female presence as aberration.
Use 'uncrewed,' 'autonomous,' 'remote-operated,' or 'operator-less' to describe vehicles or systems without human operators. These terms avoid gendered assumptions about who operates technology.
["uncrewed","autonomous","remote-operated","operator-less","pilotless"]
Women pioneered remote operation (e.g., drone piloting, teleoperation). 'Unmanned' erases their contributions by defaulting to male operators as the historical norm.
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