section_path: Gender symbol
section_name: Gender symbol
paragraph_text: Gender symbol
  
  The Mars symbol (♂) is a common symbol that represents the male sex. The symbol is identical to the planetary symbol of Mars. It was first used to denote sex by Carl Linnaeus in 1751. The symbol is sometimes seen as a stylized representation of the shield and spear of the Roman god Mars. According to Stearn, however, this derivation is "fanciful" and all the historical evidence favours "the conclusion of the French classical scholar Claude de Saumaise " that it is derived from θρ, the contraction of a Greek epithet for Mars, θοῦρος (Thouros).