-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Please stop referring to women as "females" (READ OP)
- Thread starter Persephone
- Start date
- Status
This. Unless you're police describing a suspect or something like that.
I have never heard anyone use it outside of creepy incels or neckbeards.
So yeah, right there with ya OP.
So yeah, right there with ya OP.
Why don't some women like female is it because male comes afterwards?
I don't mind being called a male but I will rescpet those who don't want to be called that
Edit I really don't even use that term but I will describe myself as black male sometimes
I was thinking how weird it is these days. Is it something people actually use when they don't mean it to be offensive or nah? I've only seen it online, though, and in gender fields in forms. It's even weirder to me because if you used the equivalent in Portuguese to refer to any woman you could end up being punched in the mouth - it is INCREDIBLY offensive and seen as utterly dehumanizing, even more than the male counterpart.
User Banned (1 Day): Dismissive drive by post in a sensitive topic.
Yes. Everything is offensive now.
I agree. A few months back, I was looking over some previous essays of mine and found I'd regularly used "female" as a noun. It really did not look good on paper, particularly as one of the essays in question was supposed to be about women's empowerment in fairy tales. And it only makes sense to refer to women with, well, "women."
Thank you for this, OP.
Thank you for this, OP.
User Warned: Condescending Tone-Policing
Making such accusations isn't a great way to get your point across.
I'm gonna admit I'm guilty of this sometimes and I'll be more thoughtful OP.
*tips fedora*
*tips fedora*
It's both. Stay in school, kids.
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/female?s=t
But in practical speech, it's awkward. I think it fits better in medical/biological dialogue.
I don't think I've actually heard anyone do this, ever. Must be something that happens elsewhere or online?
Unless you're talking about super formal essay writing or talks, in which male/female would be the correct way to refer to the sex of people (ie, "A study was conducted on 5 people, 3 male, 2 female. The males/females...")
Or as an adjective, but that's not what the thread is about and doesn't have an s on the end, usually.
Edit: Not to say it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen it. I'll definitely be looking more now, cause I didn't even think of it before.
Unless you're talking about super formal essay writing or talks, in which male/female would be the correct way to refer to the sex of people (ie, "A study was conducted on 5 people, 3 male, 2 female. The males/females...")
Or as an adjective, but that's not what the thread is about and doesn't have an s on the end, usually.
Edit: Not to say it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen it. I'll definitely be looking more now, cause I didn't even think of it before.
Last edited:
i hear the term males all the time wtf are you talking about?
lol today on ERA: No one reads the OP, even though it's like one sentence long.
You don't use it because it's dehumanizing us.
There's your answer.
You don't use it because it's dehumanizing us.
There's your answer.
I can't remember saying "female" or "females" when talking about women in a non joking manner.
Never got the thing with calling grown people "girls" either.
Never got the thing with calling grown people "girls" either.
I use the term when I say something along the lines of "I've got several female friends I've asked about this".
But replacing 'women/girls' with females in general is just creepy and fucked up.
But replacing 'women/girls' with females in general is just creepy and fucked up.
What?
We use straight white males on this forum all the time. It's used as a noun regularly. Male is being used as a noun in that context. Straight and white are adjectives.
I'm not sure why using female as a noun is taboo.
"Female" is an adjective. It's the same as referring to someone as "a black" or "a gay." It is considered both grammatically and socially inappropriate to refer to a human being by their description. You would say "a black person," "a gay person," or "a female person," except we have a word for "female people" already. It's "woman."
It's both a noun and an adjective from what I can tell
"female
noun
Definition of female
: a female person : a woman or a girl"
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/female
The adjective usage is generally fine and is natural to use "male" as well. It's when you use it at a replacement for "woman/women" or "girl/girls".
When you say "females" you sound like ferengi, i.e. view women as possessions. Don't do that.
If you still insist on doing so, watch Star Trek: Deep Space 9 in its entirety.
I hate to break this to you but most people have not seen Deep Space 9 and thus do not associate the word female with being creepy.
Nah, it just sounds super awkward. It'd sound awkward to call someone a male, too.
I don't blame ESL folks for getting confused, because English is a super weird language. Just think about it in terms of adjectives and nouns, and you'll be ok.
I would only use "females" in specific contexts that wouldn't dehumanize women, however, I'll also add that it's silly that the OP is suggesting when to use a common word. Come on, man.
If you're going to get all scholarly about it you can at least take note of the fact that your example uses female as an adjective and not a noun.
I don't even get how "female" is dehumanizing. I get how it's grammatically incorrect when used as a noun, but what's dehumanizing about it? And is that only the case when improperly used as a noun and not an adjective?
I forget what I was watching, some interview, and the female host used it as a noun and I thought "If Era had heard this someone would be throwing a fit", but no one involved batted an eye and the interview continued as usual
I forget what I was watching, some interview, and the female host used it as a noun and I thought "If Era had heard this someone would be throwing a fit", but no one involved batted an eye and the interview continued as usual
I honestly don't get it. I wouldn't use it because it sounds kind of stupid, but I don't see how it's negative at all. Women are animals, so are men. Even if you equate to it that, you have to also presume that 'male' is equally insulting, and I can't imagine anyone really does, and the fact that the OP didn't also mention male makes me think that's not the case, which is just confusing.
I'm down for getting rid of jimmies though, that's really dumb. Hot take too while we're at it.
I'm down for getting rid of jimmies though, that's really dumb. Hot take too while we're at it.
I see it and here it everywhere, and she's completely right.
Anecdotes.
If you're actually a feminist, maybe you should start listening to women when they tell you these things.
OP is right but did a really bad job of explaining why it's problematic so now people are just raging
Yeah the more I think about it, it does sound weird. Initially thought OP was talking about identifying gender (first thought was "I can't say I have female friends anymore?" and thought for some reason saying "women friends" was the right thing now)
Don't know anyone who's actually used the word "Females" in that way in real life but I do feel like I've seen it in media.
in general, when talking about people, try to avoid using adjectives as nouns
"women" rather than "females"
"black people" rather "blacks"
"transgender people" rather than "transsexuals"
it's not very difficult
"women" rather than "females"
"black people" rather "blacks"
"transgender people" rather than "transsexuals"
it's not very difficult
- Status