Calling women "Girls"

blueband said:
Because there are people who seem to make a lifetime career out of taking offence to just about anything. I like to think they are in the minority, but at times I wonder!
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I'd be offended if a colleague referred to me as a boy in a formal work context and I certainly don't make a lifetime career out of taking offence to just about anything.
 
http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpo...ar-adult-women-described-as-girls-455912.html
Article on the subject here. I don't agree really. I do get the theory but really think it's a cultural thing. I don't think it's meant in a derogatory way but a "night out with the women" doesn't really work!
I fully agree that language is important and how it's used shapes our thinking but I don't think the intention with this is to reduce women. It may be my age though and a sign of how everything evolves
 
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I would say there are lots of Police woman who would have a night out with the girls when the return to work the would not be referred to as Police girls,
 
jjm said:
I would say there are lots of Police woman who would have a night out with the girls when the return to work the would not be referred to as Police girls,
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Technically they would be police officers not police women which is exactly what it should be. I do understand the sentiment of the article and really feel having grown up hearing about "firemen" "businessmen" "policemen" and how limiting that is; I get the notion of language shaping our views. For some reason I just don't get that feeling with being referred to as a girl.

On the contrary, I sometime get referred to as the "lady" or addressed as "Ladies" on a group email and it makes my toes curl. It's right up there with "panties" as a cringey word!
 
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It is only cringey if people allow themselves to be addressed that way.If some one referred to a police woman as a police girl I don't think man or woman or police man police woman would be happy seeing them addressed as such,
 
ali said:
For some reason I just don't get that feeling with being referred to as a girl.
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If you were in a work environment and your boss referred to you as a girl in a formal business meeting would you be okay with that?
The old one of referring to a shop assistant as a girl, even if she is in her 50's or 60's, creates an impression that the man or men working in the shop must be more important. After all, how could a girl be in charge of a man?
If you wouldn't refer to a female judge as a girl then you shouldn't refer to a female shop assistant as a girl.
What friends call each other in a social setting is of course a totally different matter.
 

You're right of course. I don't disagree with any of that.I would certainly not refer to an older woman as a girl. I'm not in my 50's or 60's and I probably look younger than I am but I don't doubt that I would object to the term if I was older. Equally, I wouldn't use the term if I was speaking to a female in a work situation whom I don't know personally.
In relation to work meetings, I'm in a reasonably senior position and would never be referred to as a girl by male colleagues but as it's a women heavy environment, we'd frequently refer to each other with the term.
I guess the moral of the story is it depends who is using the word and their relative position / relationship to you.
 
jjm said:
It is only cringey if people allow themselves to be addressed that way.If some one referred to a police woman as a police girl I don't think man or woman or police man police woman would be happy seeing them addressed as such,
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I agree completely. Official positions should be gender neutral - officer being the case in point. No need for a Ban garda / chairman. CEO or equivalent is better.
 
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ali said:
No need for a Ban garda / chairman. CEO or equivalent is better.
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Chairman and CEO are two different roles, both offices can and at times are held by the same person, but they're not interchangeable.
 
Yes, I know. Chairperson often used when it's a woman but Chairman often when it's a man. Chairwoman is a mouthful.
Probably a better descriptor needed.
I remember when Carmencita Hederman was Lord Mayor and was asked if the title was sexist and she replied something like:
If I was to change that, I'd have to call myself, Lady Mayor Car - people - cita Heder - person.
 
Well one thing I am defo against is this habit of describing someone (sadly usually a victim of a certain type of crime) as a 'young girl' even though they are well into their teens.
They are either a girl or a young woman, they are not 'young girls'.
 
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