In clerical and para-clerical environments (sacristy boys, ecclesiastical tailors, collaborators in clerical circles, etc.), there exists an unwritten vocabulary transmitted in the corridors of seminaries, religious houses, even sacristies, and in messages exchanged between confreres.
It is the use of the feminine form to refer—ironically or with contempt—to another man. Sometimes claimed as banter, other times wielded with sharp subtlety, this custom conceals a symbolic system that merits deeper examination.
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