The male sex always includes the female.

Explanation

(English-origin maxim.) In the construction of statutes, the masculine gender includes the feminine unless the context requires otherwise — invoke this rule of interpretation when a statute uses only masculine pronouns.

Where this applies

• A statute grants voting rights to "every man over twenty-one"; a woman challenges her exclusion, and the court applies this rule of construction to hold that the masculine term includes the feminine.
• A property law uses the pronoun "he" throughout; a female landowner invokes this maxim to confirm that the statute's protections apply equally to her.
• A criminal statute punishes "any man" who commits perjury; a defendant argues it does not apply to a female witness, but the court holds that the male sex always includes the female in statutory construction.