Man who calls women "females" hopes to one day be allowed within 500 meters of one
https://chaser.com.au/general-news/man-who-calls-women-females-hopes-to-one-day-be-allowed-within-500-meters-of-one/Open linkView original on sopuli.xyz892
Comments229
“It is unfair how I am treated,” he said, “the moment I see a female and say ‘hello there female’ they always leave after saying something. I don’t know what they said because I wasn’t listening but they are being very rude.”
“I don’t understand what it is that makes women seem uncomfortable around me... likely they are just intimidated to be in the presence of a real alpha man like me. I don’t blame them for that.”
I know you're joking but that last paragraph made me throw up in my mouth a little bit
It's not really a joke, that's just two paragraphs from the article copy/pasted.
Any wedding where the bride is allowed to speak, and wear clothes, is doomed to fail.
Brunt...FCA
You just read that in his voice
hyoomahn feeemales
Wait, where's the part where he calls a woman a *fat whore who can keep chasing Chad but she better not come crying to him when she turns 30 and hits the wall?
*about 75% of this is just a reworded comment I saw today on an article about dating in my city.
Hey... Young bucks gotta cope!
Why r u so insensetive?
Clinical nomenclature has a place but social interactions aint it
Spermatozoon-producing organism and ovum-producing organism
I've seen some be upset about it used in "male and female" context. I think they just misunderstood why some don't like the use of the term or didn't stop to think about it.
It's not even clinical, it's used as a shortening of "female patient" or "female subject" or whatever, especially when lady or woman (which refer only to adult female humans) aren't universally clear, but people who use it as a noun outside of those contexts are just using nonstandard English, and generally socially inacceptable nonstandard English at that.
I will never understand the drama over the word "female".
I set up a doctor's appointment the other day, and I was asked if I had a doctor preference. I responded and said "I'd prefer a female doctor." According to the internet, apparently I should have asked for a "woman doctor".
Reversing the gender, I'd be asking for either a "male doctor" or a "man doctor". I will literally never use the phrase "I'd prefer a man doctor, please." Because it has weird connotations, and doesn't even roll off the tongue as well.
So because I believe in male/female equality, I am necessarily required to treat them the same, with similar varieties of words.
So what's the problem? Give me a reason why I should use the less technical versions of words that invoke social-gender-stereotypes when I want to avoid all of that entirely.
You've been told (probably at length) what women in general prefer to be called. It's probably even been explained to you. Your feigning ignorance about why is just saying that you don't find those answers satisfactory.
You're free to call women "females" and you can justify it however you want, just like I'm free to allow absolutely zero people who refer to me as "female" (outside of very limited clinical circumstances) to touch my tits.
I assume there are also other criteria as well?
Lol yeah, there is quite a bit of criteria.
Would you say 'women doctor' in this scenario?
I actually say "lady doctor." Because I do prefer a doctor who is a woman and "lady doctor" sounds fancy.
E: Last male doctor I had told me that it was "just" an ovarian cyst and it "shouldn't hurt that much" so I should take some aspirin and I'd be able to work tomorrow. So yeah. Lady doctor for me.
But what if you are in country where aristocracy doesn't exist?
I do exist in such a country! But I was recently called "quirky" so I guess take my advice as you will.
Weird of you to continue the argument at this point really
It was a genuine question. I have no argument here. I don't know the best term in this situation.
If people prefer "women doctor" then call them "women doctor".
U speaking for the people now?
You do you, and you may have any preferences to words you like and people who are allowed to touch your tits.
I'm personally out of the loop on the entire "female debate". Please do not assume everyone in the world knows everything about it perfectly well. (I'm not original commenter though, can't comment on that).
Do women find this term objectifying, like a female animal seen in biology primarily from a reproductive side or something? Does it feel like you're not treated as a deep and complex human and minimized to a sex object?
That's what I can probably come up with as a first thought.
Personally, I just use terms "male" and "female" where they normally traditionally fit within the language, and I use them for both men and women. I have never seen males reacting negatively to be called that, but I've seen many females triggered, which is curious to me.
Maybe women are responding "triggered" because you sound like a fucking dick?
"I refer to women in a demeaning and shitty way. In a way that makes them seem like they are below me. And they tend to be so triggered by it. Hmmm so curious. 🧐"
Does that not trigger something in your tiny brain? Do you not think "Hmmm... Maybe they don't like it. I should stop doing it as to not be a piece of shit."
OR you enjoy it when are a bully and enjoy it when people get upset at you for being shitty to them.
So it's either you have the intelligence of a tennis ball, or you're a fucking dick.
You should reflect on that.
Nah, you (and apparently a shitton of people who disliked the previous comment into oblivion) made a lot of assumptions about me, and the only reason I'm having this tone is exactly in response to such aggressive actions.
I must assume this is due to the use of the words "curious" and "females" in the last sentence - first means I actually am curious to why is that and what stands behind it and want to better understand people, and second I had to use in contrast to males to demonstrate the similar situation causing two different reactions.
I am genuinely out of the loop, and it's just recently that I found a lot of opposition to the use of the word "female". I want to know what is standing behind that, as I didn't see the same reaction to the word "male", which is constantly used, even once, nor do I personally see any problem with it as a male.
I want people to stop assuming everyone is trying to hurt them and go on a full on crusade against people who are genuinely curious on what's behind it or are unknowingly doing something offensive.
Instead, I get yet another attack. If you are truly enlightened on the source of such reactions, I'd rather have you explain it to me, so I would know more on why is it exactly such a problem, and how massive it is.
Referencing my tiny brain or my character isn't gonna cut it, and by that you'll keep people out of the loop and radicalized by such an attitude, which commonly leads to the effect opposite to what you're trying to have.
I will not suddenly change my understanding of the situation by people yelling and downvoting. I can come at the issue with empathy if people could explain the situation.
I truly want to build bridges here and get to the bottom of the issue that started the conflict around the word in the first place.
I'm not reading all of that. Stop being a baby and listen to people when they say they don't like you calling them something. I very much doubt this is the first time you were asked to not use the word "female" when talking to a woman.
If you're not signing some important document or in a medical setting, don't talk to women and use the word female on them. It makes you sound like a demeaning dick.
"I just don't understand why females do this" "Please stop calling us females. It makes it sound like we are less than men. Just call us women." "Oh okay, no problem."
Tadaaa. Problem fixed. Not that big of a deal.
"I'm not reading all of that"
Could have stopped there. Ignorance is bliss, huh? Allows you to rage on someone who literally explained they didn't mean any offensive behavior and were genuinely asking.
But you do you, even if you rage first and read later.
You're incredibly patient. I commend you, really.
No idea what's going on as well, by the way.
Thanks :)
You're just choosing to be outraged for the sake of drama. I'm sorry if one person in your past has called you a "female" offensively, but lets consider moving on from it.
It's just a word. It's not a slur.
The word "woman" is not any better, and even has its own issues with preconceptions. Every time you come across someone who is trying to be stereotypically traditional and enforce any idea of classic societal gender roles, they refer to themselves as a MAN or a WOMAN.
Because I generally interact with people who are uncomfortable being assigned traditional gender roles, it's more comfortable to think of them as their biological sex--male or female, so that I am not projecting gender stereotypes on them
Now why don't you chill out?
Oh fuck off. You know damn well it sounds like you think women are below you when you use "female" in all these contexts. Multiple people have told you you sound like a dick when saying "female". But you just won't accept it. Your comment history makes you sound completely insufferable...
Just accept and learn and stop trying to die on this hill because of your ridiculous ego.
Lmfao. Dude, calling me offended and telling me to chill out doesn't work anymore. Trolling has evolved.
I explained to you patiently where your mistake is, and you sent me a wall of text about why you should be allowed to refer to a whole group of people by a word they don't like.
That happened lmao. You just made this the fuck up
Dude, I'm a furry. Most of my friends are gay, trans, or some form of LGBTQ+ or non-binary who do not conform to typical gender or societal stereotypes.
Stop being a piece of shit lmao
All those males and females who are your friends? Lmao no you stop
"This guy says the word female so he must not have any friends" -- This guy, apparently.
You're dumb.
There's a difference between using it as an adjective and a noun.
Requesting "a female doctor" is not as bad as requesting "a female."
I also couldn't think of a more clinical setting than a doctor's clinic
Silly comment. I prefer female doctors because I like their personalies better, and I believe that their medical knowledge is equal to a male doctor's knowledge. It's also less weird to me to be touched by a member my preferred gender. My reasons are absolutely not related to any clinical reasoning.
You literally used the example of a doctor to disagree with someone saying it's clinical, I just thought it was funny so made a joke.
And why so serious? Reply to the other person who was actually making a serious point if you want that
Adjective vs noun. Noun-izing some adjectives makes them sound like a slur
A black doctor vs a black.
A Jewish doctor vs a jew.
A female doctor vs a female.
Thanks for the explanation. It's too bad it's seen as a slur, as it's really useful to group women and girls with one word. As is "male", for men and boys. This one doesn't appear to be seen as a slur, though.
My understanding is that its less about the word itself and more about the usage in contrast to how the same person refers to men. Males will be men, dudes, bros, etc. but they'll only refer to women as females. Usually with a thinly veiled distain. "All these dudes just hanging out but the FEMALES are fighting." or some shit.
As usual, it's male pieces of shit ruining everything for everyone else.
I'm in my 30s and I've never met a single person in my entire life who refers to women as "the females". I work in a highly male-dominated field full of country boys, for reference.
I've not personally met someone like that either, but I AM terminally online and see it a lot. It's usually Andrew Tate enjoyer types.
I'm in my 30's and haven't heard it out in the real world either, but that's probably because the assortment of individuals who use females as a pejorative either don't use it in public because it's cringe and they know it, or because they don't go outside.
That's only my educated guess though.
When I worked in an FLGS I heard it from customers quite often, which we would always try to nudge them in another direction. It's not the "country boys" who say it, it's the 4chan/incel/Alpha-male set.
I noticed during my business trip to Australia that the toilets were labeled male/female. It sounded weird in my head for some reason.
Now imagine other languages that don't have female-woman difference.
I prefer my doctor be a man, personally
Is there some reason for some preferences?
Do you prefer all men or just doctors?Of course. They're pronouncing it wrong.
Gotta gotta rhyme with tamales.
I love the scent of a female.
As a humanoid male, i too love the scent of a homo sapien female.
As a sentient homo sapien, I find myself inexorably drawn to the olfactory stimuli emitted by the female of our species, which invoke an unparalleled sensory euphoria within the neural pathways of my encephalon. 🧐
Give yourself some credit! You were able to write that sentence and post it on the internet, so you're sapient, not merely sentient!
And with one hand, too!
You dropped your fedora, redditor!
I find there's nothing better than harvesting the scent of a female in a tank, with flower petals of course, and then scrapings it off thier skin. Someday I hope to use it in all five chords of a fragrance.
Perfume, story of a murderer
Bro wat
What... why... when did you come up with that username. I regret interpreting it
I love the scent of a female.
Senza una donna
That's what we were instructed to use to refer to a subset of our platoon-mates while working, in those rare cases where it made a difference. One of my DS, an MP from Halifax, would absolutely tear a strip off you if she heard you say 'girl' or 'woman', in barely comprehensible English out from under that scary red Beret, and you knew the woe was coming.
As a recovered Marine, I know too well how sexist the military is especially under the guise of "nomenclature."
I just made a comment about this too! The "male" and "female" vernacular is alive and well in the US military as well!
I honestly thought you meant she was a Member Of Parliament from Halifax, though that sounds way scarier.
Here’s a hint, guys: Bitches don’t like being called “females”.
Femoids don’t like being called “females”.
FTFY
I don't understand why "gal" isn't used more. It's "woman"s single-syllable sister and also isn't infantilizing like using "girl" can be.
I only ever hear gals use it, usually in group settings. It really is a shame. It just feels dated for whatever reason in other contexts, I guess.
I see what you did there :)
I used to use "guys and gals" in a work setting, but then I hired an employee who identified as non binary (hope I'm using the right word here) and I didnt want them to feel excluded. I started using "all" or "yinz" instead and it stuck. At this point I just don't assume pronouns unless someone tells me what theirs are.
Guys, gals, and enby pals is pretty inclusive and rhymes
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyaru
Weeb
Still waiting for 'broad' to become fashionable again..
In my memory, the term was not used kindly even during its peak.
Eww
In my native language it's highly offensive to call a woman a female. Didn't know that's the thing in English.
At the same time we call children "human larve" and everyone is ok with that
It really really rubs most of us the wrong way. Yet, for whatever reason, stupid men are taught that it is ok to call us "females". It is like we are corpses. Things. Not even people.
Even if someone called me a "male" constantly it would kind of freak me out. They are theoretically interchangeable, but male or female just comes off less "human" I guess. If they choose to only ever say male or female then it makes you wonder if they literally perceive you as inhuman.
Oh wow, thanks. Nope, I won't call women with that word anymore
I mean I used to do it tons in the army, that was the accepted way to refer to the women. Like "hey where is the females bunk I need to drop something off to sgt jones"
I never meant it disrespectfully, can't speak for anyone else though.
It's not so much that the word itself is offensive it's just that using it as a noun instead of an adjective to refer to a person carries with it connotations and implies you're referring to a person as if they're a subject or an animal or something below human.
"Bundle of excrement". Wow I like it
"Crotch drippings" is my favorite euphemism for children.
I have such a weird take on this, due to being in the military for so long. We absolutely do refer to one another as "males" and "females".
Ie. "There was a female SSgt that was really helpful in customer service" or "I had to remind a male Soldier to put on his cover when he left the building" or "I had a female troop once".
However, I try really hard when I'm speaking to a non-military member to switch up my phrasing. Sometimes I still slip up, and I gotta be like "shit, sorry, I mean that woman cashier over there" or whatever it is that I'm talking about.
I will say though, I do distinctly remember having that conversation during basic training, and fucking hating being referred to as "female" in the beginning, and that thought being shared amongst my flightmates. I can still hear the TIs shouting from across the parking lot: "GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW, FE-MALE!" Ugh.
It was just 16 years ago now, so "female" has become normalized.
In your first examples, you are using female as an adjective. A female troop, a female Sargent, a male soldier. That's usually fine. Even "that female cashier over there" is probably fine. However if you say "that female over there" or like you pointed out, "get over here right now, female" or really any other instance where female is used as a noun instead of an adjective, that's where it becomes gross. It's all about adjective vs noun. Adjective: usually fine. Noun: usually not.
Yeah after I posted the comment, I was reading through other people's, and someone pointed this exact difference out. This take makes full sense to me!!!
Hahahuaha jokes on them, they don't know I have a cat so I am sharing a chair with a female at this exact moment in time!
Pet the cat. Pet the kitty! Now!
I do as I am commanded. The kitty has been pet.
cat tax!
Those guys are the rapiest ones. It's disingenuous to act like the types of men who call women 'females' aren't the same guys who neg, space invade and spike drinks.
It's fairly common where I live, of both genders.
Do people commonly say "men and females" where you live?
No, everybody negs, space invades and spikes drinks.
You neg, space invade and spike peoples drinks? That's really fucked up bro.
Men/males.
I don't understand. My girlfriend calls women "females".
So long as you're not using it in a disrespectful way, there's no reason why women can't be called what they are. What's next? Getting upset because I call it a vagina instead of a "pussy"?
I've never read any internet comment using “female” as a noun for human women that wasn't problematic.
This is interesting to me because, as a dude in his 40s, I grew up with adults (and even cartoons) saying 'woman xxxx' being the pejorative (i.e. damn woman drivers!). It's been weird to seem to see this flip.
In addition to what the other reply to you said, I was talking specifically about “female” as a noun.
“females like xyz” and so on.
That's true, but the OP's and my experience is that the adjectival use, like "woman doctor," was pejorative. I associate it with Greatest and Silent Generation relatives. We changed to say "female doctor," as it sounded more neutral.
Now, there's a movement back, and lots of younger folks now say that the latter is demeaning, and that "woman doctor" is the respectful phrasing. I know it's essentially arbitrary, and defined by usage, it's just interesting to see the evolution.
IMHO fine:
IMHO weird:
So it's not a reversal. Using “woman” like an adjective is still weird!
I'm with you, but I've been reading online that "woman doctor" is now the preferred form.
I see, that is strange!
I think the difference is that one case is a collective noun and the other is a fallacy.
Contrast with using females as a collective noun which can been seen as reductive or offensive on its own without the fallacious logic.
Ah! Yes! I'm not the only one.
Lol! I forget I'm older. That may also contribute to my comfortability with it!
I use it, and never mean it in an offensive way.
"The pronoun "she" is for females, while "he" is for males".
But now that I see that it's so widely seen as a slur, I'll refrain from using it with people who don't know me well. I'll use "women and girls", now.
I’m bothered when ever I hear someone use females as a collective noun for women. Not necessarily because it offends me or because I’m offended on behalf of someone else, but because it sounds so strange to me and the context where it is used is often wildly inappropriate.
The usage is odd; in my experience people who refer to women collectively as females often do not refer to men collectively as males which is often telling about other beliefs and ideas. Also, male/female and man/woman are dichotomies, and using men/females sounds really off.
Referring to people using technical terminology feels reductive and weird to me. Replace female with any other technical identity term and use it the same way: it will get really awkward really fast.
I am aware that the majority of people who use females collectively are not doing so to offend. Hell, the other day, I heard a teacher refer to the girls in her class as females. I doubt she was using it as a pejorative, but she referred to the boys as… boys. The whole thing was weird to me.
Yea. "Female" and "male" don't sound weird to me in themselves. I don't see then as in a different category of words than "women" or "boys". But using it in an inconsistent way would be weird to me as well. If in a class, the girls, or women, are in the same age as the boys, or men, then it should be either "girls and boys", or "women and men". Or "females and males". But "females and boys" is just inconsistent.
As opposed to what, robot women?
(All women are human.)
It's generally the difference between using it as a descriptor, and a noun. Noun bad.
Compare "I really like watching the female football game" and "I really like watching the women's football game"
"Female" isn't trans-inclusive, but people aren't going to look at you weird either way you say it.
Now compare that to:
"I really like watching the females play football." and "I really like watching the women play football."
"Females" here makes you sound like you're getting sexual gratification from watching the players, or that you see them as nothing more than a vagina, "women" sounds like you might like the game.
And/or it makes you sound like a zoologist
Or a statistician. looks around nervously
But what if I am a zoologist?
Some of the guys I know seem to use it because they think it's a more PC way of saying it. One of them is married with kids who he has a good relationship with.
ICING ON TOP.
Ok I will totally admit that, especially when during DEI discussions or other similar meetings, when my brain is about to say "woman" I can freak out and over-correct and I have absolutely said "females".
I used to say "boys and girls", even my female wife says "girls" is fine, but 1 time in 2009 I got yelled at for using "girls" and I have never recovered.
Saying something that may be perceived as offensive and then later realizing you probably should have said it differently is totally different from saying the same thing unabashedly with zero self-awareness
Why can't you say 'woman' when refering to a woman?
Sometimes it feels awkward. I'm getting used to it but for some reason it's unnatural. My women friends in real life also find it weird to say women, they also say females.
Do you also have 'man friends' in real life? Or do you say 'male friends'?
I don't really say man either, I guess I would prefer to say male friends or guy friends.
I say females and am one. Title has me wondering if it's from hearing it so frequently.
unless it's used as an adjective it definitely sounds like an incel or a ferenghi is speaking
Go watch star trek. Ferengis will absolutely set you straight
I've read Fahrenheit 451. Bradbury had interesting thoughts about offensive language, as well.
So do most people, but overuse by idiots doesn't negate the concept
There's something to be said for picking one's battles. The concept stands, as well as the concept of not being in a state of perpetual outrage. Life can be sweeter, for it.
Be well.
Tone makes all the difference here... Think of a dude in Georgia saying the word, that's what this onion is about lol
Back on reddit I remember getting downvoted a lot for that time I suggested a guy referring to women as "females" was a red flag. Glad I'm not alone in thinking that.
But you can be female and not be a woman, and be a woman and not be a female, am I correct? I've never used the term "female" to describe anyone, but I kind of thought it might be a bit more politically correct? I suppose not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43cBDsncp9Q
I use to call to females woman
I write it females because I don't like the look of the word woman, it's not a sexist thing it just never looks right to me and I always worry I did it wrong.
In general, female is an adjective. It can be used as a noun, but generally shouldn't be, at least when talking about humans. So you can say "my female colleague" or "a woman I work with". You can say "the female mind" or "a woman's brain." You can say "a panel of female postal workers" or "a panel of women who work for the post office." If you stick to the adjective/noun rule, you'll come off far less offensive/gross sounding. Hope this helps.
I just avoid it altogether and rephrase my use of "females" to be inoffensive but to be honest I don't particularly get why it's so offensive.
I want to start by saying this is an attempt at an explanation not just for you, but anyone who stumbles upon this thread, and is not making any assumptions of anyone's character.
The answer to why it's offensive or gross is twofold.
First is that using it as a noun like saying "I went on a date with a female" sounds clinical or sterile. Female as a noun is mostly used in science and medicine, and women don't want to feel like test subjects. They get objectified enough as it is. Is it technically incorrect? No. But it feels that way to the person being called it.
Which leads to the second, more important reason. They've asked. Again, to emphasize the importance: They've asked. In general (yes there are exceptions), women have asked people to stop referring to them as females (the noun), and if you respect people, then you call them what they ask. You hopefully don't call Asians Orientals anymore. And when your friend Stephen says he goes by Steve, hopefully you say Steve the majority of the time. Or if Richard really hates being called Dick, then hopefully you don't call him Dick. Language is fluid and cultural, and if you want to get along with people (Asians, Steve, Richard, women) then you should learn to use language their way.
I think that is really the more important reason, because it's totally fair if you don't understand why someone else finds something offensive. Everyone has had different life experiences and not everything offends everyone. But when a large swath of society says they find it offensive and you continue to do so, then you are being offensive regardless of whether or not you understand why. And in the end, if you choose to continue to be offensive just because you don't buy the reasoning, then you shouldn't be surprised when you get bad reactions and find it hard to bond.
Tips for a better life: Call people what they want to be called. Be nice for no reason. If in doubt, ask for advice from someone who doesn't look like you.
Hope this makes at least some sense.
"Female as a noun is mostly used in science and medicine, and women don’t want to feel like test subjects."
I was told not to do this in science courses, mostly because it's not correct rather than notions of creepiness. It applied to any adjective but male and female were called out specifically. This was decades before "woke" was a thing.
I think it's not really used in the sciences, it's used by people who want to sound scientific but aren't.
That's interesting. In my science classes, and several others past level 12, instructors did and returning for CE, still do use fe/male. I'm wondering if this is regional, because a. there are plenty of military bases in my state and surrounding, b. plenty of medical university hospitals, c. plenty of elderly. What I'm getting at is people get into a habit of speaking a certain way at work, and it does spill over into everyday speech, unconsciously, especially when others speak similarly, and if they don't, seldom raise an eyebrow, let alone a fuss.
Gotcha.
I don't think it's either.
Ok, though I have never heard anyone say that without joking, change that " I went on a date with a male". Offensive? "I went on a date with a dude" Offensive? I don't think so. Similarly everyone gets objectified, that's part of being a human unfortunately since everyone uses everyone else as objects.
Asking to stop isn't a point, I can ask you to stop breathing does that obligate your breathing to be offensive? No, it simply means you feel that way. We don't call asians oriental anymore because it's not accurate and comes from a time when the average person if they met an Asian person they had probably met a Chinese person. Fun example being Indians, they've asked routinely not to be called that and guess what? They keep getting called Indians. Offensive? No, hilarious because all it points out is white European hubris. Similarly, what Steven wants to be called is irrelevant, what they respond to is if you get my point.
As the supreme court famously said, "one man's vulgarity is another man's lyric." I can't determine what is going to offend you because there is such a crazy weird amount of shit to be offended about, an accurate title that just makes you feel weird is not something worth worrying about. I avoid it anyway because I don't like to hear people's word virtue signaling rants when I don't.
It's not not-nice to call a female a female, it might make you feel weird but that's a you issue not an anyone else issue.
Using "male" and "female" as nouns is offensive because it dehumanizes the subject and reduces them to their gender.
A "woman" is inherently human -- specifically an adult female human. By calling that person only "a female" you remove their humanity and maturity, leaving only their sex. This is why it's so common for creepy types, and why it's so creepy, because it betrays that only one of those three descriptors is important to them.
It doesn't dehumanize anyone though, male and female are the two most common sexes in humanity so it being either doesn't disqualify you for humanity anymore than any other multi hyphenate.
Also no woman isn't specist in is etymology, its sexist technically we only take it as human because only a human can consent to enter into marriage.
Wif = wife / man = mankind. Literally the wif of men, technically you aren't even a woman if you aren't married or at least capable of being married.
Sorry. I didn't realize I was talking to the man in the article.
That's a non argument.
"You're a bad person! How dare you ask a legitimate question in a respectful way!"
Rather than "x is because of y" or "I'm sorry I'm not sure I can answer that" but rather going out of your way to be cruel.
So fun question, how is the way you're talking to me not dehumanizing.
Never be sorry . No one can tell you you did something wrong
Image of the introductory coursework for people wanting to learn English.
It's crazy how the eldritch amalgamation that is the English language can have zero rules, yet a dozen unwritten ones of what you can and can't say. Good luck threading the needle if you aren't up to date with the latest cultural evolution in America. Add on top that the kids keep inventing sentences worth of new acronyms.
I get what group of people the article is poking fun at, one of them is on proud display in the comment section. Though I still feel people should have a better understanding that as the Internet's lingua franca you'll encounter people from a wide range of backgrounds, and their grasp of the language and culture will vary.
I can certainly see it being a struggle for non native English speakers or English speakers from other cultures. Referring to women as females is one of those things thats accurate according to the language, but a lot of bigots have figured out that they can use common words as slurs and people are slower to catch on. Female is unfortunately one of those words; it evokes big "I see you as livestock" energy
Yeah. I think a fair few people misunderstand the intent of my comment. I agree that the connotation of "female" makes it a word one should be conscious about its usage.
I was strictly speaking of how non native speakers of English may struggle with keeping up with what's socially correct English according to the wider Internet culture.
This, so much. In my language, even as little kids, they called us “males and females”, very rarely “boys and girls”.
Native speakers need to understand that not everyone knows all the connotations that come from every english word. Especially considering some of them are vastly different based on whether it’s used in USA, UK or Australia.
TL;DR, most people are reasonable and can tell the difference. We cool.
People where English is not their first language get a pass. There is usually a very telling inflection when someone says "females" and means it in the bad way. I would rather help people with their English and explain that it is best to not say it that way, than get upset over our language being unnecessarily complicated.
The context of how female is said is even more confusing. Best way I think is if you are referring to a group of people or a specific person as female(s), that is bad. If you are referring to something about our gender, a description, or something impersonal, then that is fine. "Female anatomy.", "I hate being female.", "There was a female guard at the station."
While it is puts me on edge when I hear it (in that bad context), it isn't like they called me a cunt or something really foul. It is usually just an immediate red flag that we may be dealing with an incel, but let's see where this goes. Usually doesn't take long to get a confirmation on how they really meant it.
I personally already know the connotation of “female/s” in English and avoid using it, so that’s not an issue for me.
It was more of a reminder (to some native speakers, yeah, I shouldn’t have generalized) not to assume the worst of people saying it, because they might not know. In the whole thread there was just this one comment reminding people that ESL people exist, and it was pretty downvoted so I wanted to add on that.
Plus, as you said, most of those Tate-types have a dozen other red flags attached to them, so imo there’s not really any point in attacking people just for misusing a word (especially online where you can’t rely on vocal inflection or accent). It just drives non-native speakers away from conversations.
(Also, ironically, as far as I know “cunt” is pretty much a greeting in Australia so even from that alone you can’t really assume anything. Context is always important, unless you know 100% you’re speaking with someone who grew up in the same country)
What are you talking about
I feel like the last paragraph made it pretty clear? Most people on the internet doesn't have English as their native language, expecting all those people to understand the constantly shifting connotation of every word feels rather ignorant/ethnocentric.
But every language has a constant changing lexicon and a difference between offical and actually used.
English certainly feels like a lot more fast moving than Norwegian, can't really speak for other languages. That wasn't even really my point though
My point is that a lot of people seems to have rather strong feelings about something that can often simply be an honest mistake from someone who may not even be fluent in English, let alone understanding the finer nuances of the words
In some that's true for everyone. Even with in the same language milliseconds can change if you're precived as rude or not. Many people aren't aware of this. We Just internalize a rythm and a bunch of rules. Then some one breaks them an they come off as rude or mean. Its just something baked into us.
He cray-cray
Most language courses will have you learn the word woman before you learn female. Is this really an issue?
What issue? I'm not even directly talking about the usage of the word female. I'm talking about the lack of understanding a lot* of English speakers show when "others" use their language.
To use male/female as an example, my language doesn't even have direct translation for male and female, we only have the equivalent to man/woman when speaking of humans. I could totally understand that someone who aren't terminally online may be confused of when to use woman and when to use female, especially as female may seem more formal and thus be confused with being the polite option, just as an example.
*far from all of course
It's a stupid article because the guy in the picture is so hot no one would care what the fuck he would say. His words could be completely incoherent and everyone would still want to have sex with him.
It figures this "funny" article came from Australia, the worst country in the world. One day I hope AI finds technology to sink that that horrible island and all of it's koalas kangaroos and sexy resettled British convicts to the bottom of the ocean. The article is a good reminder to people from Australia that just because you're extremely sexy doesn't mean you're extremely funny.
Found the guy who calls women "females"
What the fuck did you just spout? 😂
the truth...
I spouted the truth.
aussies are some of the most congenial people ive ever met. their culture (from my brief experience) is very egalitarian. it was such a nice change from all the individualistic crap here in america.
So the have lemmy in New Zealand lmao
It figures this "critical" comment came from lemmy.world, the worst instance in the fediverse. One day I hope AI finds technology to sink that that horrible instance and all of it's koalas kangaroos and sexy resettled reddit convicts to the bottom of the ocean. The comment is a good reminder to people from lemmy.world that just because you're extremely gay doesn't mean you're extremely witty.
Edit: i should have added the /s
Sigh, how many "worst" instances exists, I know of at least four...
In the past year, I have heard that the folliwng instances are all the worst for some reason...
lemmy.zip
lemmy.ml
lemmygrad.ml
hexbear.net
The beauty of lemmy is that you can just block any instance, so do it.
I'm legitimately curious how so many people don't see the obvious copypasta I did of the original commenter. I even added an /s to it after the fact...
hmm...
it's almost as though people are so moronic and easily offended that they can't comprehend blatant sarcasm...
it's shocking!