(Argumentum) ad Virum
Latin: “Argument against the man”: a variant of “(argumentum) ad hominem” in which it is explicitly pointed out that a male person is being targeted, or that a specifically masculine trait is being attacked.
An example that has, unfortunately, been heard all too often lately:
As an old white man, you’d better keep your mouth shut on this topic.
It is hard to imagine a topic in which the speaker's age and/or gender alone would justify excluding them from the discussion.
Note: Although the Latin word „hŏmo“ (whose accusative singular is „hominem“) can also refer to a “male person”, in this context of the phrase „argumentum ad hominem“ it is used to mean “human being” or “person”; that is, it explicitly implies no specific gender here.1)
Using the gender-specific variants “ad virum ” and “ad feminam ” are therefore only appropriate when the gender of the person being attacked is relevant to the argument – for example, because a gender-specific characteristic is explicitly being attacked, as in the example above.