As for whether the "without issue" in his words was gender-specific, Mencius did not make this clear. But based on conditions in society at that time, Associate Professor Yu Te-hui of the Institute of Ethnic Relations and Culture at National Donghwa University has no doubt that he was referring to male issue.
至於句中「無後」，是否有性別之分，孟子並未點明，但是依當時社會情況，東華大學族群關係與文化研究所副教授余德慧認為，指的自然是男性。