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Old 01-27-2011, 12:08 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,914,193 times
Reputation: 11862

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1mintjulep View Post
I get annoyed at being referred to as a "male." I'm a man, not a German Shepherd. Same thing with the word "female." People think it makes them sound erudite or something. It doesn't.
I don't get why someone would get offended over it. I have no problem being called a male.
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Old 01-27-2011, 12:18 AM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,875,707 times
Reputation: 7058
Women can be pests with entitlement issues: paranoid and looking for someone to scapegoat. I've seen this with women who hold positions as supervisor or director. It's always something or someone who is bad and against the women's movement. Now if they were working as a janitor and felt oppressed: then that is a whole other story.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Trimac20 View Post
I don't get why someone would get offended over it. I have no problem being called a male.
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Old 01-27-2011, 05:29 AM
 
Location: The Hall of Justice
25,901 posts, read 42,622,264 times
Reputation: 42767
Quote:
Originally Posted by SifuPhil View Post
Yet, you would view "Three female employees work for my company" as "dehumanizing" if I were to say it with a , right? While I'm having drinks after work with my MALE friends? Or would they be my MAN friends?

I understand the improper usage, but not how it's an insult. It's all about the context. And THAT can be applied for ANY gender-related adjective or noun.

"I was hanging out with the guys"...my friends, right? Around my age - old farts? Nothing wrong with that phrase, is there? How about "I was hanging out with the gals"?...also my friends. A bit limp-wristed to say that, true, but not an insult. Yet, it seems no one would get up in arms if I were to say "I was hanging out with the boys" or even "I was hanging out with the men" / "I was hanging out with the males" (as opposed to hanging out with the women / the females). Nouns, right?

Geeze, now I should be afraid to mention on this forum that I routinely call women in public "dear", sweets", "hon" and (horrors!) "ma'am"! Sometimes when the evil is full upon me, I even go so far as to say "My Lady"! Is it because I'm an older male/man? What's the cut-off point for that? Does age entitle me to special privileges?

If a little kid comes running up to me in the mall, crying because he's lost, am I being dehumanizing if I say "It's OK, son"? No? Then how about if it's a girl - should I say "It's OK, daughter"? Isn't that the complimentary term?

What would YOU say if a little boy and a little girl came up to you in that situation? What would you call them when you address them individually? "Sweetheart"? "Dear"? "Honey"?

Ever hear a boy referred to as "little man"? I would hope you have, if you've lived a less-than-sheltered life. Can I therefore refer to a girl as "little woman"? Or should we all march to the nearest public library and start burning Louisa May Alcott's writings?

You see how silly all this is? Where is the point of no return? True, languages constantly evolve, they eventually conform to common usage, but if this is the direction our language is going I'll be doubly happy to meet my friend Death very soon.

...and I have it on good authority that He's a dude.
There, there, Phil. No, I do not see how silly it is. I am an implacable prescriptivist; if Garner says it, I do it.

Here, have a donut.

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Old 01-27-2011, 05:40 AM
 
Location: New Albany, IN
157 posts, read 474,572 times
Reputation: 130
I haven't read all the posts here but I can imagine the opinions and explainations are quite...varied.

Anyway, I totally agree with the OP. I hate hearing human beings being refered to as "female" when it's not in the context of biology, medicine, and such. Example: Telling your friend about her cheating boyfriend, "I saw Joe in his truck with another female." HATE IT! And I suppose that's why some people do it, just to be a pest. Others are just too ignorant. The word "male" is NOT used in the same way--you never hear someone say, "I saw Lisa at Kroger talking to another male." Nope, it's always "guy," "boy," "man," "dude," etc.
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Old 01-27-2011, 05:45 AM
 
Location: The Hall of Justice
25,901 posts, read 42,622,264 times
Reputation: 42767
Quote:
Originally Posted by A_Gazela View Post
The word "male" is NOT used in the same way--you never hear someone say, "I saw Lisa at Kroger talking to another male." Nope, it's always "guy," "boy," "man," "dude," etc.
Yes, people use "male" in that way too. There are posts on this board that do it. It's especially telling when a woman refers to other women as "women" but men as "males."
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Old 01-27-2011, 06:13 AM
 
Location: Tucson
42,831 posts, read 88,042,435 times
Reputation: 22814
Quote:
Originally Posted by SifuPhil View Post
and (horrors!) "ma'am"!
You better be careful with this one! So far you HAVE been!
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Old 01-27-2011, 06:16 AM
 
Location: Northside Of Jacksonville
3,337 posts, read 7,106,542 times
Reputation: 3464
Just another juvenile thing for women to nitpick about. Some women need to grow up, seriously If you're offended by being called female, that's an issue YOU need to deal with. Women are just that, females.
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Old 01-27-2011, 06:20 AM
 
Location: Wu Dang Mountain
12,940 posts, read 21,596,581 times
Reputation: 8681
Quote:
Originally Posted by JustJulia View Post
There, there, Phil. No, I do not see how silly it is. I am an implacable prescriptivist; if Garner says it, I do it.

Here, have a donut.
That's DOUGHnut!

As for friend Garner...

To my way of thinking, "Modern" isn't necessarily "Better". The Urban Dictionary is used by many here and elsewhere, but the fact that its entries are Wikified is a total boregasm.

Yet some swear by it and cite it as a valid reference.

I prefer to swear at it.

The major old-school dictionaries regularly update their content to reflect modern usage. "Ecofreak", "no-brainer", "smokeless cigarette" and "teleporn" have made their recent appearance in the classic reference tomes, yet I cringe whenever they are bandied about in public. They offend me. In fact, words such as "ecofreak" dehumanize my concern over the environment.

Text-speak is modern, so I would be offended if anyone objects to my saying "OMG, thm catz wuz off da chain, yo! CUL8R!" It would be demeaning to me if you were to correct me - indeed, I might go so far as to say I felt dehumanized, because you refused to recognize my inalienable right as a male human to speak freely.

Here is my solution: I've just now decided to change around the names for human genders. From now on, men, or males, will be known as brutes (male fox). Boys will be goslings. Girls will be vixens and women, or females, shall hereinafter be known as cows, a name which is equally - and no doubt, diplomatically - shared among several vertebrates.

So now we can all joyously post here about how a certain hairy brute that we know hooked-up with a nice fat little cow; we can only hope that they produce a gaggle of goslings and a skulk of vixens.

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Old 01-27-2011, 06:31 AM
 
Location: Tucson
42,831 posts, read 88,042,435 times
Reputation: 22814
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthsideJacksonville View Post
Just another juvenile thing for women to nitpick about. Some women need to grow up, seriously If you're offended by being called female, that's an issue YOU need to deal with. Women are just that, females.
And men using this language are just that - ghetto D-bags.
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Old 01-27-2011, 06:41 AM
 
Location: The Hall of Justice
25,901 posts, read 42,622,264 times
Reputation: 42767
Quote:
Originally Posted by SifuPhil View Post
That's DOUGHnut!

As for friend Garner...

To my way of thinking, "Modern" isn't necessarily "Better". The Urban Dictionary is used by many here and elsewhere, but the fact that its entries are Wikified is a total boregasm.

Yet some swear by it and cite it as a valid reference.

I prefer to swear at it.

The major old-school dictionaries regularly update their content to reflect modern usage. "Ecofreak", "no-brainer", "smokeless cigarette" and "teleporn" have made their recent appearance in the classic reference tomes, yet I cringe whenever they are bandied about in public. They offend me. In fact, words such as "ecofreak" dehumanize my concern over the environment.

Text-speak is modern, so I would be offended if anyone objects to my saying "OMG, thm catz wuz off da chain, yo! CUL8R!" It would be demeaning to me if you were to correct me - indeed, I might go so far as to say I felt dehumanized, because you refused to recognize my inalienable right as a male human to speak freely.

Here is my solution: I've just now decided to change around the names for human genders. From now on, men, or males, will be known as brutes (male fox). Boys will be goslings. Girls will be vixens and women, or females, shall hereinafter be known as cows, a name which is equally - and no doubt, diplomatically - shared among several vertebrates.

So now we can all joyously post here about how a certain hairy brute that we know hooked-up with a nice fat little cow; we can only hope that they produce a gaggle of goslings and a skulk of vixens.

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