I thought it was offensive because some (supposedly female) users said it was offensive; but I didn’t understand why my female friends used the term (female).
I found another saying that it wasn’t offensive, and I immediate copied that belief.
“Woman” is more appropriate for adults 90% of the time unless you’re talking specifically in a scientific context. “Female” feels way too medical, like you’re talking about something foreign or of another species. Before incels popularized it, I’d never heard the term used as commonly as it is now. In fact, I’d only ever seen it used the way it is now in media where you’re supposed to recognize the character as sexist (“haha, the female sex is a mystery indeed” kinda thing).
It’s become oddly normalized in Gen Z, but the question I have is: why aren’t men called “males” nearly at the same frequency?
I don’t know, but in Spanish, there are numerous ways to name men and women. And trends change year to year, so the slang to call each of them changes too… so it might just be a cultural or society issue. But well, I’m not in contact much with “common” people since I stopped using proprietary and enterprise software, so I only know about several terms from relatives and videos, but I can ensure that there is several of them. It might also be that Spanish is spoken in a lot of countries, which, I guess, might be the reason for this rich term variety.
why aren’t men called “males” nearly at the same frequency?
this deserves a post of it’s own too.
IMO, bro, dude, homie are hip man/male/boy alternatives. Whereas women don’t have as many hip ones. I used to say ‘girls’, but then i saw what some people mean when the say girls in dark places on matrix (underage) and switched to women/female. Lass/lassy is old school cool and would love to see that as a come back.
Alternatively, reclaiming ‘female dog’ would work too
Alternatively, reclaiming ‘female dog’ would work too
I have a feeling many younger feminists have done that intentionally, treating the word as a badge of honor for their vocalness in protesting. For the past 26 years, Portland, Oregon had a feminist zine with that exact title.
I’ve tended to use “female” when talking about both girls (children) and women. Calling a grown woman a girl always felt a little infantalizing, especially when that isn’t done much to men. At the same time, girls are not women, and I try to be precise in my wording. Female (and male) just make the most sense.
“Woman” is more appropriate for adults 90% of the time unless you’re talking specifically in a scientific context. “Female” feels way too medical, like you’re talking about something foreign or of another species. Before incels popularized it, I’d never heard the term used as commonly as it is now. In fact, I’d only ever seen it used the way it is now in media where you’re supposed to recognize the character as sexist (“haha, the female sex is a mystery indeed” kinda thing).
It’s become oddly normalized in Gen Z, but the question I have is: why aren’t men called “males” nearly at the same frequency?
I’m not a native English speaker, but I thought “female” and “male” were both used quite commonly. I guess I’m wrong.
Usually I hear “guys” or “dudes” most often to refer to men. But women don’t get to have fun words. :(
I don’t know, but in Spanish, there are numerous ways to name men and women. And trends change year to year, so the slang to call each of them changes too… so it might just be a cultural or society issue. But well, I’m not in contact much with “common” people since I stopped using proprietary and enterprise software, so I only know about several terms from relatives and videos, but I can ensure that there is several of them. It might also be that Spanish is spoken in a lot of countries, which, I guess, might be the reason for this rich term variety.
Sounds like this topic is probably just a thing for English speakers, then.
this deserves a post of it’s own too.
IMO, bro, dude, homie are hip man/male/boy alternatives. Whereas women don’t have as many hip ones. I used to say ‘girls’, but then i saw what some people mean when the say girls in dark places on matrix (underage) and switched to women/female. Lass/lassy is old school cool and would love to see that as a come back.
Alternatively, reclaiming ‘female dog’ would work too
I have a feeling many younger feminists have done that intentionally, treating the word as a badge of honor for their vocalness in protesting. For the past 26 years, Portland, Oregon had a feminist zine with that exact title.
I’ve tended to use “female” when talking about both girls (children) and women. Calling a grown woman a girl always felt a little infantalizing, especially when that isn’t done much to men. At the same time, girls are not women, and I try to be precise in my wording. Female (and male) just make the most sense.