Is that based on any kind of poll? I'd actually be curious what the divide is
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Please stop referring to women as "females" (READ OP)
- Thread starter Persephone
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Then you haven't been listening. Probably because you've mansplained your way out of any opportunity to listen to women about stuff like this.
Nah but you see this poster is a feminist and has already done their part, no further thinking or analysis required! /s /barf
Pretty sure I didn't say that. Read the post I responded to and then read my response again.
You've been quite aggressive in this thread, stop reading into a comment something that's not there.
I don't blame the OP, no way in hell they could respond to everyone anyway, I feel some just want to argue for argue's sake.
There are quite a few women in this thread talking about how it bothers them, while you continuously uphold the single woman poster who said she's okay with it. You've also had it explained to you multiple times why people have a problem with it, yet you still continue to act like you don't understand the issue. What exactly would it take for you to understand this issue?
In that context it's mostly habits. If you spend 40 hours a week writing in a certain way it'll likely slip into your casual language when typing online. They probably won't say it in person the oddness will hit them like ton of bricks but they may make that slip up online.
I just take guys as being gender neutral, even though it initially was very gendered as a term. We actually had a thread on that subject a while back.
I have no idea how you got the impression that the poster you're responding to was trying to silence you or invalidate your feelings.
Well, the majority of women in this thread seem to agree with the OP so....
Pretty sure it was the Battlefield subreddit after the BFV reveal :P
Calling a group of people 'absolute shits' is clearly a one-off occurrence and would definitely become a problem if he did it every single time.
This is a terrible attempt at a "gotcha"
"Females" sets my teeth on edge, and using "female" where one would use "man" if the genders were flipped absolutely makes me judge a person. I work in a field where women are outnumbered by men quite a bit, and the men I work with tend to use "female" to otherize and exoticize the idea of women instead of treating us as peers.
Some of the responses in this thread have been embarrassing and shameful. This thread is temporarily locked while we deal with such posts.
Thread has been reopened.
This is a sensitive topic. Discussion is welcome, but posts that dismiss the experiences of others, as well as drive-by posts simply reacting to the title will be actioned accordingly.
This is a sensitive topic. Discussion is welcome, but posts that dismiss the experiences of others, as well as drive-by posts simply reacting to the title will be actioned accordingly.
"Females" as a noun is used in military/police/medical/research fields along with "males" because in those fields you're deliberately dehumanizing subjects for one reason or another when talking about them. Either in terms of bodies you need room for in a jail, test subjects, etc.
And so I can understand why some military/police folk have issues code-switching back to regular talk. Doesn't make it "ok", but it's understandable in person if I know the person's background. But without that background or in general online conversation- it's completely terrible and makes you sound like a misogynistic Ferengi villain.
And so I can understand why some military/police folk have issues code-switching back to regular talk. Doesn't make it "ok", but it's understandable in person if I know the person's background. But without that background or in general online conversation- it's completely terrible and makes you sound like a misogynistic Ferengi villain.
I need to take a long look through the responses and I'm sure my thoughts have been addressed, but:
A) it makes no sense to mix men and females. I either say men and women or males and females. Or guys and girls.
B) women I don't think always works because - like men - it implies age.
C) I am not yet aware of the reason behind those taking offense to the term. But like I said, I will read the thread.
A) it makes no sense to mix men and females. I either say men and women or males and females. Or guys and girls.
B) women I don't think always works because - like men - it implies age.
C) I am not yet aware of the reason behind those taking offense to the term. But like I said, I will read the thread.
Well, German has gendered terms for all animals too, but the noun version of the words male and female (Männchen and Weibchen) is pretty much exclusively used in the context of animals with the exception of human newborns sometimes, so just like you'd say "this animal is a female" in English. The adjective form of male and female (männlich and weiblich) is commonly used for humans though ("die Person ist weiblich"), so just like "the person is female" which in the context of this thread would be fine too. Saying "the person is a female" or "the females I work with" in German ("die Person ist ein Weibchen" or "die Weibchen, mit denen ich arbeite") definitely sounds very wrong though.
I as a non-native English speaker actually always thought the same as OP when I read stuff like "the females" even before I saw it mentioned here and on social media. It looks like my intuition has been right.
OP
OP
The thing is though is that even in those fields it's used as an adjective not a noun. People aren't even reading op.
You can say "female barracks" or "female patient"
I don't think there are many people who would find it wrong to use the word "girl" if you are literally talking about a child. If you have questions about whether or not "girl" is appropriate, you can use "young woman" to be safe.
It's used as a noun there. "We're looking for three suspects, 2 females and a male" "Our study has 21 males and 19 females"
The exact reason it's used in those contexts (deliberately dehumanizing the subject) is the exact reason it's a problem when used as a noun outside of those contexts.
Almost 40, and I have honestly never ever in my life experienced the word female being used other than with male, usually in a medicine related conversation. Or I guess for anything biology or physiology related.
Always men/women and male/female within the correct context.
Always men/women and male/female within the correct context.
I actually see this a lot too here and everywhere else. Maybe you're not aware of the issue and thus don't notice it as much.
I think that's definitely fair, nobody is by any means perfect, especially when it comes to the grammar and context used online and offline. On the same hand, I think it's also to politely point out why it's not correct to use the term in that manner.
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But the genders are clearly called male and female.
I use men and women, but female is a term for one of human and animals' two genders.
I use men and women, but female is a term for one of human and animals' two genders.
We both had the same video in mind but our takes are different. I always think about that scene whenever I hear someone say they've never heard women referred to as "female" outside of the internet. And since I've become aware of this subject, I notice I hear females in place of "women" a lot. I have no idea why men can't listen to women on this issue. Of course there is context where female as a descriptor is appropriate, but we're mostly talking about casual conversation. If you're talking about women/girls and can say women/girls instead of female, then say women or girls.
Instead of saying "I work with a lot of females at the office" say "I work with a lot of women at the office."
Instead of saying "we need more females in tech" say "we need more women in tech."
Instead of saying "My doctor is a female" say "my doctor is a woman."
If you don't say stuff like that then the post doesn't concern you. But if you don't say stuff like that but are pushing back against the subject in the OP, why?
The confusing thing for me is the other way around. If for some reason I am referring to the whole gender (and this goes for dudes too) then in my head women is too specific.
I do agree with the sentiment ITT though that it works better as an adjective than a noun.
It would really just be nice if gals was used more.
Man, any thread where a woman asks some of you folks to not say "bitch" or use "female" in some situations really rustles your jimmies huh?
You could just, y'know, try not to do it because a woman asked you not to. This isn't complicated.
You could just, y'know, try not to do it because a woman asked you not to. This isn't complicated.
I don't think I've seen this problem very much on Era, but I do know what the OP is referring to. Depending on the context it can be used as a dog whistle to demean women. Of course when talking about medical, statistics, biology, police reports, etc there are appropriate places to use it.
A lot of MRA/Incel/RedPill communities like to insert 'female' instead of women in their hate speech.
A lot of MRA/Incel/RedPill communities like to insert 'female' instead of women in their hate speech.
I don't know why there's a few people in this thread saying stuff like this is only a problem on the internet. I've seen people get mad about the usage of "female" irl. I would say that at this point, in certain contexts with the way people use it, it's become a code for bitch.
I think I saw an animated comedy video on social media where like a girl called her boyfriend to ask where the guy wanted to go for dinner or something like that. The boyfriend kept brushing off answering by saying "you called me where do you want to go" and the girl deflected the question back to him. Every time the boyfriend got annoyed with her he would literally stop himself from saying Bitch and correct it with "Female".
It's weird that people are oblivious to female being coded language for bitch but not too long ago people were oblivious to the term thugs being coded language.
I think I saw an animated comedy video on social media where like a girl called her boyfriend to ask where the guy wanted to go for dinner or something like that. The boyfriend kept brushing off answering by saying "you called me where do you want to go" and the girl deflected the question back to him. Every time the boyfriend got annoyed with her he would literally stop himself from saying Bitch and correct it with "Female".
It's weird that people are oblivious to female being coded language for bitch but not too long ago people were oblivious to the term thugs being coded language.
This has always struck me as super weird. When someone refers to women as "females" it makes me think they see them as these strange alien things that are so far removed from their understanding of life that they don't even see them as normal people.
I know that that isn't necessarily true, but... I don't know. It's like you're reducing them to their gender. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a significant overlap between people who call women "females" and people who see women's thoughts and feelings as obstacles that just get in the way of having sex with them.
I know that that isn't necessarily true, but... I don't know. It's like you're reducing them to their gender. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a significant overlap between people who call women "females" and people who see women's thoughts and feelings as obstacles that just get in the way of having sex with them.
I need to break this habit. Random example but I'll say "female-led superhero movie" when I'm writing articles. "Woman-led superhero movie" sounds clumsy as hell to me but I think I just need to adjust.
This forum is full of people with either poor grammar, different levels of education, from different parts of the world/cultures, and/or who may speak a different primary language in addition to people posting on cell phones. We could become offended by a number of ways that people are composing their posts. But, because it looks offending to you does not always mean that it is being committed maliciously by the other person. Ultimately, the word is a noun or an adjective, so they are not incorrect. It could be wise for the reader to read the pragmatics of the content in addition to the grammar of the text prior to becoming offended.
Yeah, as a veterinarian I use female and male so much that it's going to slip into casual conversation.
Reading "female" in the way people use it has always been one of the weirdest fucking things in the English-speaking internet for me as a native Portuguese speaker.
Our equivalent word, "fêmea", is never used to describe human beings outside of, maybe, medical reports.
Our equivalent word, "fêmea", is never used to describe human beings outside of, maybe, medical reports.
Woman
An adult female human. Grammatically speaking, why would you use one of 3 descriptors when you could just use "woman"? "Female" says nothing, as there are female cats, seahorses, platypus, etc.
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