posted
I don't mind "girl" or "woman" or even "lady", if the occaision arises. Although I can see that "woman" could be too formal/old for some contexts...
"Chick", "skirt", "broad" etc., on the other hand...
EDIT: Especially "chick". I am not a "chick" in any sense of the word!
posted
Personally I felt flattered when I moved up from "that girl" status to "that chick". I don't mind being called a chick sometimes, but I hate being called a girl, and I don't really like being called a woman. Woman is usually used in context like "get me a drink, Woman", or something along those lines. I don't mind being called a lady, or young lady though.
Posts: 4174 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
*grin* I don't have time to fully answer that question, Verily. I'll try to later, if I can.
I'm fine with pretty much all the other options mentioned so far, though.
quids, I consider "guys" to be a gender-neutral term, for the most part. If I'm addressing a mixed gender group of people, I'll usually say "you guys." How do you feel about that? I don't think I usually use it when I'm referring specifically to one female, though. Hmmm.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I am not a lady. I don't like "woman" in the context of "Woman, go get me a beer." I don't really have an opinion on "girl." Endearments are fine. With the exception of "hunny bun." I especially hate "ma'am." I'm only 26, for crying out loud. I can deal with "miss." I also have no opinion on "chick" because I can't imagine anyone actually calling me one.
I have a really hard time referring to the majority of the males I know as "men." Quite a few of them don't even rate as "guys." I call them "boys" and am willing to suffer the consequences.
I think that covers it.
Posts: 226 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
I hate "miss". It reminds me of prissy private school girls from the fifties. "Ma'am" is fine. I'm always "Ms" on bills because I detest the Miss so much.
EDIT:
"Men" and "Man" for me pretty much covers anyone with a career or family. Sometimes I'll attach "young". ("career" is different from "job"; it also depends on how I relate to the person)
"Boy" covers up to the end of highschool.
"Guy" is the in-between unless circumstances lead me to use one of the others.
posted
Hmmm, I call all my guy friends "boys." And I try to make a point (especially at work) to call anyone female "girls" unless they're middle aged, then I sometime use Miss. I just think that when I'm elderly I would enjoy being called a "girl"... though I usually use it in the plural, like when two elderly ladies are out shopping together
edited to add: This is to avoid "Ma'am" which insults so many people (here in the north, anyway) I just don't use it.
posted
I call other females "girls" and "ladies." And I just realized that I don't mind being called "Lady," but being addressed as a lady drives me nuts. I am odd.
Posts: 226 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
Hmm. This is an odd spectrum of viewpoints. Girl doesn't bother me, nor does woman (unless it's in the context of "Woman, get me a beer," as someone mentioned). Lady doesn't bother me, nor does ma'am (depending on how it's said), but Miss irks the hell out of me.
I don't mind being a chick, but I dislike the word broad. I don't mind being a skirt, and no one would ever call me a babe, so that's a moot point.
Informally, I'll call any group of people of any gender "Guys." I will refer to individual males as that guy, that fellow, that boy, or that gentleman (depending on my mood). I've been known to call an exclusively male group boys (regardless of age), but I can see how it would annoy, if not done in fun.
And let me top this all off by saying I LOVE the English language...such...variety! Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I am a woman. However, if you say, "Woman, get me a beer!" there may be blood shed. If you call me a girl, I won't care enough to make an issue of it (although it's not my preference).
If you call me girlie (*shudder*), there WILL be bloodshed. And if you call me "wifey" <insert vomit smilie here> . . . well, let's just say that I divorced the last person who called me that despite my objections.
Call me a chick, skirt, or dame and you'll get a glare. Call me babe, and I better really like you, or else we're back to possible bloodshed.
*bares teeth* I am woman, hear me roar. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
Well, "woman" as a term of address is different. There's no way to use it that way without sounding like a pig.
Teshi, as a guy myself, I pretty much agree with your assessment of the male terms. I'm too old to be a "boy", but I have a very hard time thinking of myself as a "man". I have a job and my own apartment, but not a career or a wife or anything, so I figure I'm just a "guy".
Though if you'd called me a "boy" in high school, we'd have had words.
quote:I don't mind being a skirt
Really? I'd have thought that one would be universally offensive.
(You do all realize that I was just kidding when I listed all those, right? Those are not words I actually use.)
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I remember when Porter and I were dating him telling me that he didn't feel like the word "man" applied to him--yet. He strongly referred to himself as a "guy", a la Dave Barry, stating that there is a definite difference between the two.
But I remember him saying that I made him want to be a man. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
I have no quarrel with being called a boy. I certainly prefer "boy" to "man." The latter is wholly inapplicable.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I do. To me, with certain exceptions, a "boy" is a kind of child. I feel like I've lived too long and worked too hard to be called a "boy".
Of course, I'd still love to be somebody's "boyfriend", and that's a word I see no reason to alter. Or if someone said I was "like some kind of Beastie Boy or something", I wouldn't be offended. Confused, sure. But not offended.
But if someone referred to me as something like "this boy I know", I would be offended.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
I prefer girl over woman or lady. I think I prefer lady over woman as in "that lady over there might be able to help you". I don't mind chick, but I dislike broad, skirt, and most similar expressions. Only one person can get away with calling me wifey. Although some of my friends can get away with calling me almost anything.
I don't mind being addressed as "you guys" in any group (mixed gender or all girls), and I would address a group (any gender combination) as "you guys". However "a guy I know" would always be male. If I was talking about a female I would always say a girl I know or a lady I know, never woman. ... not sure why.
I agree with Teshi on this:
quote:"Men" and "Man" for me pretty much covers anyone with a career or family. Sometimes I'll attach "young". ("career" is different from "job"; it also depends on how I relate to the person)
"Boy" covers up to the end of highschool.
"Guy" is the in-between unless circumstances lead me to use one of the others.
posted
I am a woman, and prefer to be referred to as such. (However, my name is not “woman,” and I would not answer if addressed as such.) I’m not a girl, although I probably wouldn’t make a big deal about someone referring to a group that I was part of as girls. However, there have been times when someone has referred to “the men” and “the girls” in a mixed gender group (same age range). I have a BIG problem with that.
Sidenote: I’m an honorary member of a sand volleyball team (I go to all the games and cheer and provide childcare for members if needed, but I won’t play because I hate volleyball. I’m just in it for the social aspect. (And the ice cream.)) The league is co-ed and has a rule that if the ball is hit more than once before it goes over the net at least one of the hitters has to be female (we call this “the sexist rule”). Most of the teams, if a male player hits the ball first, yell “girl!” to remind their players that they need a female player to hit it next. Our team is the only one that yells “woman!” Of course, we're one of the older teams, which may have something to do with it.
posted
I get called "lady, miss, girl, ma'am" at work, and I don't honestly have a preference. I don't mind being called a chick, and if I'm in a relationship with a guy, he can call me babe or woman (I like "babe" as a sort of pet name), or pretty much anything he likes. I'm not that particular, so long as he's not being intentionally offensive. I dated one guy who verbally abused me constantly, so I'm definitely not going to put up with that. Posts: 1225 | Registered: Feb 2002
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posted
These kind of conversations always make me feel so much more at ease talking to the opposite sex. Thank you.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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quote: However, there have been times when someone has referred to “the men” and “the girls” in a mixed gender group (same age range). I have a BIG problem with that.
Ugh, that's one thing that gets to me.
Posts: 3636 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Yeah, that's pretty condescending. "The boys" and "the girls" would be okay, depending on context. "The guys" and "the girls" probably wouldn't offend anyone that wasn't looking for something to be offended by. But if it's "the men", then the counterpart must be "the women".
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
One of my favourite shirts says "Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult" on the front.
quote:But if someone referred to me as something like "this boy I know", I would be offended.
Huh. That wouldn't bother me in the slightest. "This boy I know" or "this guy I know" are both fine by me.
It might be because I'm not very good at judging age, so I generally don't bother trying. For example, a few years ago I met a girl on a train. Early on in the dating process, she told me that she was 31 (I was 21). I hadn't noticed and didn't care. But when I just described it to you I referred to her as a "girl," even though I expect by the standards of more or less everyone else who has posted to this thread she would be a "woman." Part of it is that I think it makes the sentence flow better ("so I met this girl..." > "so I met this woman...") because "girl" is easier to say, and part of it is that usually when I'm talking about dating and such things I just default to "girl" and "boy" for whatever reason. Perhaps I associate "girl/boy" with fun and "woman/man" with work.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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