vivacious means alive. It’s a nice word.
I agree with you PrimeMeridian…
Sorry, I think in context it is sexist, just because it’s such a gendered adjective. I have never once in my life heard a man described as “vivacious.” A man might be energetic, or even dynamic. But vivacious? No way. Just the fact that it’s an adjective reserved for women makes it a kind of giant flag signaling, 'Hey, folks, this is a woman." Which in the context of introducing a law school dean should be completely irrelevant and out-of-bounds. Though I don’t hold it against the student; he probably didn’t know better).
Look at some of other synonyms for “vivacious.” It’s not just “energetic”, it’s “bubbly,” “sparkling,” “lighthearted,” “jaunty,” “fun-loving,” “perky,” “breezy,” “sunny,” “vibrant,” “effervescent.” Hardly adjectives you’d use to describe a law school dean. Or a man. As Merriam Webster online says, it means “happy and lively in a way that is attractive.” Or as the Cambridge English Dictionary online says: “(esp. of a woman or girl) full of energy and enthusiasm. Example: * Judy Garland was bright and vivacious, with a vibrant singing voice*.” These are all qualities that men find attractive in a woman. They have nothing to do with the job of a law school dean.
Marilyn Monroe was vivacious, and I suspect she’d have made a lousy law school dean. Indeed, there may be no one who’s been described as vivacious more often than Marilyn Monroe, as in this LA Times article:
I think about it as having some pizzaz. Full of life. Zest.
I never think about it as describing a pretty lady. I think you can be vivacious without being a “hottie”.
I disagree that Ms Moroe was vivacious. Sultry? Yes. Vivacious? not at all.
Vivacious means to me lively. Not a sexy word. Charming maybe.
Again, what’s the big deal here? Who cares if men aren’t called vivicious? They aren’t called “she” either that doesn’t make it bad or sexist.
I’m not sure that men are never called vivacious or lively.
Generally speaking I wouldn’t mind if someone described me as vivacious. I wouldn’t take it in a negative way.
To me that means lively, energetic, and describes someone who is active and involved in many things.
I wouldn’t want to be known as dull or low energy which would be the opposite.
Is the issue that the person being described is senior? Would it be ok if a senior employee described a new college graduate that joined a company as vivacious? New graduates just starting out are willing to work hard, learn new things, introduce themselves to others on the team and attend opportunities to socialize with other coworkers. (for networking) Doesn’t that describe someone who is lively or vivacious? I am trying not to overthink this and if someone said that to me I would take it at face value and not try to think what were the persons intentions. I would take it as a compliment. I think the intention was positive in using that word.
I’m an HR lawyer. Vivacious is fine. No one is going to complain about that, and if they do, they need to get a life. Men and women don’t have to be the same, by the way. Someone can compliment a co-worker on their style without it being harassment. There are some who don’t know where the line is, however.
MOWC, everything you say is true. However, your last point, “There are some who don’t know where the line is” is exactly the reason to follow a practice of never commenting on non-work traits with colleagues, absent a social relationship. It’s hard to reprimand Person A for saying the same thing as Person B, where A crossed the line because of context.
Plus, better to avoid the issues of potentially offending some one and having to call on @MomofWildChild to save you from some hypersensitive type. Erring on the side of playing it safe is a smart strategy IMO. Even if it is a trumped up charge, its a waste of time and resources.
No one is saying that she was harassed or that she had grounds for a lawsuit. Something can be subtly sexist or irritating without being actionable.
As mentuoned before, I would love it if someone described me as vivacious among friends or to a potential date. I also think its generally fine to describe someone that way at work in a casual setting. But if I were being introduced as a speaker in a professional setting and someone used a word that gendered to describe my personal qualities, I wouldn’t like it.
If it were a young male subordinate who introduced me that way, I would definitely take him aside and tell him that it wasn’t really an appropriate way to describe someone in a professional introduction.
It seems like another case of a student using a thesaurus word without being aware of the nuances of the word.
I see plenty of cringeworthy “thesaurus crime” in the College Essays forum.
SOOO true, @PrimeMeridian. It’s hard to explain to them the nuances of the words and how they are being misused. Especially when there are more than a dozen in a 500 word essay!
Wondering if we had been charged with reviewing the student’s introduction, how many of us would have advised him/her to edit that word? To be honest I am not sure I would have prior to reading this thread.
Live and learn
From Thesaurus.com, here are synonyms of “energetic”:
active, aggressive, animated, ball of fire, breezy, brisk, demoniac, driving, dynamic, enterprising, forcible, fresh, hardy, high-powered, indefatigable, industrious, kinetic, lively, lusty, peppy, potent, powerful, red-blooded, rugged, snappy, spirited, sprightly, spry, stalwart, strenuous, strong, sturdy, tireless, tough, unflagging, untiring, vigorous, vital, vivacious, zippy
Would you consider any other of these synonyns to be sexist?
Not sexist but there are words on that list that I would have edited from an introduction of someone: demoniac, kinetic, lusty, red-blooded, snappy, peppy and zippy. Perhaps spry as well.
I’d edit out most of those synonyms from a business introduction. Breezy, sprightly, sturdy, red-blooded? Nope, nope, nope, and nope.
Yes, breezy for sure but sturdy? I have heard the phrase he leads with a “sturdy and steady hand.”
I think too many women have chips on their shoulders. You are who you are. We should be able to take compliment for it is. If someone only sees me as being beautiful without knowing me as being intelligent then thank-you very much. Like wise if someone is to only see me as being intelligent without knowing what a beautiful person I am then thank-you very much. It is bette than being neither.
Well, I was thinking more in line as using it as a synonym for energetic in describing a person not one’s hand. There are other synonyms for sturdy which have very different meanings. Some people, women especially, might not appreciate being described as sturdy as it could be construed as the hefty/brawny context. Another example of being careful in word choice.