Is it sexist to use the word "girl" in reference to adult

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The word "girl" in reference to a female in her 20-s

I am a female and I use that word myself	16%	[ 5 ]
I am a male and I use that word myself	34%	[ 11 ]
I am a female, I don't use it, but don't mind if others do	3%	[ 1 ]
I am a male, I don't use it, but don't mind if others do	13%	[ 4 ]
I am a female and I think it is sexist to use it	16%	[ 5 ]
I am a male and I think it is sexist to use it	3%	[ 1 ]
I am a female; I have an opinion not stated in the poll (specify)	6%	[ 2 ]
I am a male; I have an opinion not stated in the poll (specify)	9%	[ 3 ]

Total votes : 32

KT67
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12 Sep 2020, 10:35 am

It's sexist not to match it up.

Men and women
Ladies and gentlemen
Girls and boys
Lads and lasses

Men and women - default. Normal. How you should tend to talk about adults who you don't know well.

Ladies and gentlemen - formal. Old fashioned. Ladies and gentlemen have old fashioned etiquette.

Girls and boys/lads and lasses - informal. Implies youth and good looks. Not to use in a professional context. Something you would use familiarly about your mates or someone you fancy. It's ok to be a boyfriend with a girlfriend for eg.

Talking about men and girls implies that the men are people you respect and the girls are young and pretty and nice to look at but you don't really think of them as women.

Same if you're a Mrs Robinson type and talk about 'women and boys'...

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KT67
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12 Sep 2020, 10:53 am

techstepgenr8tion wrote:

My whole life's social conditioning? Very few women want to be called a 'woman' or worse 'lady' - that it makes them sound or feel old, 'girl' is virtually a complement in comparison.

SharonB wrote:

Where I grew up, women in their 20s were called "young women" or "young ladies", so now that I am in the Midwest, the use of "girls" is odd (and is applied to woman well over 30 - where is the line drawn?) and unfortunately the only time it has been used to directly refer to me has been meant to put me in my place. At work, the Northeast employees already moved from "guys" and "gals" (rather than "girls"). There are regional variances to be sure..

Yep, that's where I'm at.

We're also the part of the country where any plurality of people, even a group of women default to 'Hey gice! hey gice!'.

If someone wants to only be known by her youth and beauty, call her a girl.

If someone wants to only be known by his youth and muscles, call him a lad.

Most men and women I know want to be known as men and women and respected either on their professionalism and jobs or on their intellects.

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Misslizard
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12 Sep 2020, 11:37 am

It’s used here.I use it to refer to women my own age.
“The girls and I are going to the river.”
It can be slightly insulting if ol’ girl is used.
As in, “That ol’ girl is up to no good.”
Boys can be a group of grown men, son is also used to refer to a man.

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12 Sep 2020, 11:51 am

MaxE wrote:

vermontsavant wrote:

MaxE wrote:

SharonB wrote:

So take young women from the Northeast and stick them in the Midwest: Culture shock, not in a good way. It's interesting to watch how the women from the Midwest who have lived in outside cultures handle it when they come back. That's telling. And no, they don't tell their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends that they are "sexist" - they start modelling, mirroring and questioning.

Is there really that much difference in use of language between, say, Boston and Indianapolis? I would have expected this to be fairly consistent across the country. This is obviously tied to general acceptance of Feminism, which I would think is basically the same everywhere. If there's any difference, I would expect it to be more urban vs. rural than regional (even when you take the Bible Belt into account).

There is a big difference between Boston and Indianapolis.
If you drive to those cities,remembah to use yah blinkah.LOL

I've stayed in both cities and noticed multiple differences, but never got the impression I was experiencing two distinct cultures.

Ask someone born and raised in Boston,they would beg to differ,which isn't me I live in the Berkshires.

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MaxE
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12 Sep 2020, 12:02 pm

vermontsavant wrote:

MaxE wrote:

vermontsavant wrote:

MaxE wrote:

There is a big difference between Boston and Indianapolis.
If you drive to those cities,remembah to use yah blinkah.LOL

I've stayed in both cities and noticed multiple differences, but never got the impression I was experiencing two distinct cultures.

Ask someone born and raised in Boston,they would beg to differ,which isn't me I live in the Berkshires.

Maybe I should have used a different example for the NE such as Wilmington DE. Boston has a lot of local culture associated with it, although I would not have associated it with a greater likelihood to call a female over age 17 a "woman" rather than a "girl". In fact, just the opposite as when I think of Boston culture I think of macho film starts such as Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, etc. or rowdy Bruins or Red Sox fans.

EDIT my first girlfriend was from the Berkshires so you can imagine what the first thing might be that comes to my mind when I think of that geographic area.

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vermontsavant
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12 Sep 2020, 12:37 pm

MaxE wrote:

vermontsavant wrote:

MaxE wrote:

vermontsavant wrote:

MaxE wrote:

There is a big difference between Boston and Indianapolis.
If you drive to those cities,remembah to use yah blinkah.LOL

I've stayed in both cities and noticed multiple differences, but never got the impression I was experiencing two distinct cultures.

Ask someone born and raised in Boston,they would beg to differ,which isn't me I live in the Berkshires.

I don't know if Boston has a thing about woman vs. girl per se,I wasn't really referencing this thread,I was just pointing out the cultural differences between the mid west and Boston.

It's is a small world eh, I'm in Northern Berkshire county.

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techstepgenr8tion
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12 Sep 2020, 1:48 pm

KT67 wrote:

That highlights another thing that grieves me - a lot of people age into adulthood, they don't grow up.

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ASPartOfMe
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12 Sep 2020, 6:08 pm

I don't use it.

Sexist not most of the time. Adults use "one of the girls" and "one of the boys" often.

When a 70-year old male and a 70-year-old woman have a relationship that is not purely about sex and the couple are not engaged or married they are "boyfriend" and "girlfriend".

Saying "hits like a girl" is both sexist and homophobic.

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Fireblossom
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13 Sep 2020, 2:11 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:

Saying "hits like a girl" is both sexist and homophobic.

I get it that it's sexist, but how is it homophobic?

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13 Sep 2020, 3:10 am

Fireblossom wrote:

ASPartOfMe wrote:

Saying "hits like a girl" is both sexist and homophobic.

I get it that it's sexist, but how is it homophobic?

Because it is not only "female" traits that are bad but that guy having them is not a "real man", in other words, saying you "hit like a girl" is another way of calling you gay in a pejorative way.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 13 Sep 2020, 3:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

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13 Sep 2020, 3:18 am

QFT wrote:

I had a long discussion with someone on this message board who thinks it is sexist to use the word "girl" when I am referring to an adult female in her 20-s. To me it sounds like a common usage that both genders use, but she seems to think thats not the case. In any case, let me make a poll to find out.

Better be safe and not use it, generally speaking.

I will use the phrase" Your go, gurl" in my comedy routines,

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