<p>troops?</p>
<p>I actually was trying to look up earlier this morning how marines are addressed. unsuccessfully.</p>
<p>Then to me, that asks, why are men allowed to have a gender specific word without it having any deeper meaning, and women are not. In our efforts to be equal we are being inherently unequal. </p>
<p>I don’t know the answer, either. I think it is likely the female seargent would use a genderless word or no word, simply “let’s go,” and I wonder why that would be. Are women more afraid of being gendered than men? I think this thread is telling us yes. It’s certainly true that women risk more by allowing themselves to be gendered than men do, there is a justifable reason for that given what women have gone through. That just stinks to me like using womanhood as a weapon against women, and using genderlessness as a shield, which makes me feel like I’ve tripped and fallen into 1950. I don’t like it one bit.</p>
<p>Girl as a complement? At mile 24ish or so of the Boston marathon I was running in a pack of female runners. Someone from the crowd yelled, “Way to go, girls! You rock!” I took it as a complement. :)</p>
<p>On my flight back, the pilot addressed the passengers as “ladies and gentlemen”. The flight proceeded to Beijing… I kept thinking that he would be using “comrades” in his next pre-landing address. Which would you prefer to be called? ;)</p>
<p>My D enjoys being a “Southern girl” and defines herself as such. Pink is the color of choice, dresses (with cowboy boots), grandmother’s pearls, etc. But she is no shrinking violet. She’s tough as nails - climbs mountains, runs marathons. Now, she’s 22, so maybe she’ll transition from a Southern girl to a formidable lady some day - but maybe not. </p>
<p>I am firmly in the camp of enjoying being a lady (and woman for that matter). A lady respects herself and others and demands to be treated with the same respect, IMO. Being a lady has never stopped me from achieving anything, even playing hardball with the “big boys” in investment banking in the 90s. Also, completing 2 Masters, raising 2 biological kids and fostering 3 others, driving a tractor when needed, and baking some mean cupcakes! </p>
<p>I am enthusiastically in favor of reappropriating “lady”
and to a lesser extent, “girls”
: )</p>
<p>“girly” is to me an essentially genderless concept at this point. Male or female can be “girly girls” It is a look, a fashion statement, not necessarily a state of being, though it may reflect a state of being.
FWIW</p>
<p>Saw this headline and thought of this thread. St. Louis is a (male) hockey player, not a team.</p>
<p>St. Louis selected as Lady Byng finalist again</p>
<p>I refer to the ladies room as “the little girls room”.</p>
<p>I call it the toilet or the bathroom.
I dont understand euphemisms.</p>
<p>I call it the toilet or the bathroom.
I dont understand euphemisms.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, I was never in the military, but I have actually been in all female groups, both academic and athletic where we were occasionally addressed as “women.” </p>
<p>As in, “Women, we need to get going with this project…”? That’s interesting. Maybe I’ve never heard it because for biological reasons I’ve never part of a group of women.</p>
<p>I would be more likely to say “Guys,we need to get going with this project…” even if it was a group of all women.</p>
<p>It’s clear to me we all have different interpretations of the word and won’t come to an agreement. I disagree with megpmom’s statement that a lady is someone who respects herself and demands to be respected. That’s how she sees it, I see that as a strong woman, NOT as a lady. The dictionary usually comes up first with refined, polite and well-mannered, virtuous, etc, not strong. I just don’t like the word.</p>
<p>Decoding any word can lead to somewhere, somewhere finding a reason to have an issue. I don’t use the word much but would never think to be offended by it. I’m pretty sure most ladies who do use the word routinely believe they are strong ladies. It’s more of a southern thing I think. Although, they used it a lot on “Sex and the City’” in the nineties.</p>
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<p>Usually I just say, “excuse me”
Interesting thread in itself. : )</p>
<p>
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<p>Incidentally, the use of the word “boy” towards a grown man…especially a racial minority has its own sordid loaded history in some regions of the US. </p>
<p>Re: excuse me, I say where Im going if it is important to the ones I am with to guesstimate when I will be back.
But if it isnt relevant, I just say " excuse me".</p>
<p>I excuse myself to go to the “ladies room”
I go on “girls’ weekends”
I refer to almost anyone as “you guys” regardless of gender
I find terms like “Lady Mayor” and “Lady Vols” to be offensive and intentionally diminutive.</p>
<p>Wow! I am only on page 2, but I use “ladies” several times a day. When I am greeting women, typically a mother and daughter, I will begin with “how are you ladies today”? This happens maybe five times a day. I have been nervous on several occassions when it occurs to me that the individual may have gone to some lengths to make their gender difficult to guess. If it is a family with what seems to be mixed genders I might say “how are you folks today”? Hope that doesn’t offend. My office mate says “you can check with the girls at the front desk”, both older than he is, which I DO find offensive. I have also heard him call male black teens “boy” which in my day was a HUGE mistake, that you did not make twice. Not sure if that’s still twice.</p>