Referring to women as 'females'

[Sunny Fox 5,950]

I say "female friend" when referring to girls who are my friends, but not my girlfriends, because off the difficulty some people having in differentiating "girl friend" (a friend who is a girl) and "girlfriend" (a girl I'm dating). And "female friend" sounds a lot better than "woman friend".

What about "lady friend"? Sure, maybe they don't act lady-like, but it sounds better than both "female friend" and "woman friend".

[Jennabun 1,579]

 

 

What about "lady friend"? Sure, maybe they don't act lady-like, but it sounds better than both "female friend" and "woman friend".

 

At least where I'm from, people sometimes use "lady friend" to refer to a woman they are seeing romantically.

[Evilshy 5,090]

What about "lady friend"? Sure, maybe they don't act lady-like, but it sounds better than both "female friend" and "woman friend".

Maybe. Still has a romantic connotation to it, though.

[babymoondust 223]

Random question, but does your boyfriend go on Reddit a lot?

 

No. Not sure where you're going with that question, lol! (I don't go on Reddit at all either). But no; I think he looked at it once, and left after like 5 seconds. 

[Rainblow H. Ash 5,091]

No. Not sure where you're going with that question, lol! (I don't go on Reddit at all either). But no; I think he looked at it once, and left after like 5 seconds. 

 

I wasn't going much of anywhere, I just saw that there's this huge trend on Reddit right now saying the same thing, about how socially awkward people call women "females". Guess your boyfriend heard it somewhere else, or it was just something he noticed.

 

Thanks for the answer though. You're a cool female poster.

[babymoondust 223]

I wasn't going much of anywhere, I just saw that there's this huge trend on Reddit right now saying the same thing, about how socially awkward people call women "females". Guess your boyfriend heard it somewhere else, or it was just something he noticed.

 

Thanks for the answer though. You're a cool female poster.

 

You're a cool poster too, human male individual.  

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

I tend to use 'female' as well, though from my experience some females are offended by being called a girl or a woman. It's not often of course, but I have seen instances where people have reacted VERY negatively to those terms.

 

Plus I'm a little awkward socially at times, so I try to remain gender and AGE neutral in that regard.

[Zoraxe 546]

That's interesting to me since I come from a "bad neighborhood". It was an urban setting. Imagine a Waka Flocka video. These type of people use "female" to refer to women/girls. I was brought up around them, so I kinda adopted the slang. It was everyday conversation in my hometown. To me it is an improvement though since they are at least not using the other word for female (the one that starts with "B")

 

You know, I didn't hear the the word 'female' used a lot until I was in this training program for 'economically challenged youth' that had lots of city kids in it. And not at all since I graduated and left.

 

I think it depends on what you're talking about. I think if it is biological, I think using the term female is more accurate. Because not all women are female and not all females are women. I'm female. I'm not a woman. I'm agender. I'd prefer to be called female, because that's factual, as opposed to being called a woman, which is untrue for me. On the opposite end, if you're talking about female bodies, but you say "Women's bodies generally..." it's including trans women as well. And since the above statement is most likely speaking to sexual dimorphism, this doesn't apply to all women so much as it applies to females. So I would say that using "woman" vs. "female" probably boils down to whether you're talking about sex or gender. Furthermore, the term "woman" implies an adult. The term "female" implies having an XX chromosomal pairing. It's not really including kids when you call people "women." "Female," on the other hand, can be inclusive of infant, child, adolescent and adult females. Both terms have their place.

 

Well, I wasn't really thinking of transgender people and the ilk when I made this thread. But you are right.

 

I notice that I use "female" when I want to be inclusive of all age groups. For example, I might say, "Female fans of MLP are sometimes called pegasisters," rather than, "Fans of MLP who are women or girls are sometimes called pegasisters." I don't do it to put an emphasis on biology ("female" is often used interchangeably as a gender identity as well as a description of biological sex, anyhow); I do it because "female" just sounds less clunky and awkward in the sentence. Most of the time though, I do make a conscious effort to say "women" or "girls" just because, like the OP indicated, a lot of the time "female" sounds super weird. I find that using it as an adjective ("my female friend") sounds better than using it as a noun ("that female over there") for some reason.

 

True, female is useful when describing a group consisting of multiple age groups, but female people seem to be able to call themselves whatever without being described as rude (within reason of coarse). But yeah, I tend to use 'female' as an adjective rather than a noun too in certain situations.

 

No, it seems this referring to them as female, to them, thing seems to be a male thing. A minefield guys have to walk through, call a young adult a girl and she might get insulted, call her a woman and she might get insulted, call her a 'lady' and she might think you just called her a grandma. One person I talked to said something along the lines of "female is the only word for us left that isn't also an insult". But then again, Ive also heard that a guy calling a girl a female is "sexist and dehumanizing", and 'Female' does seem a little impersonal, like if I said "I am bringing 2 females to the market", you wouldn't know If I was talking about people or cattle.

 

So I guess there is no possible way to win!

 

I find nothing wrong with 'lady' and I don't think it implies being old. But of coarse in a conversation its not what I think, its what she thinks. Now that I think about it, maybe the best gender term to use in most situations is 'Gal', the female equivalent of guy.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Zoraxe

[Evilshy 5,090]

No. Not sure where you're going with that question, lol! (I don't go on Reddit at all either). But no; I think he looked at it once, and left after like 5 seconds.

 

That's what he wants you to think. One does not simply look at reddit once for 5 seconds.

[A goat 323]

There's no such thing as being "too biological" op.

[hip-indeed 304]

I feel like people are using "female" more these days because more and more seem offended by being called a "girl" (maybe it's too frivolous or young-sounding to them?), "woman" (maybe too old-sounding?) and "lady" (maybe too stuffy and prissy-sounding?).  I dunno.  I think most of us that use it at times are just scared that the girl we're talking about might not prefer any of those more regular terms or whatever.

[Felix 1,363]

I use "females" because it's a simple way of referring to that gender without any emotional or major perspective of that person(s). Using "girl" is like saying they're not an adult where as "woman" is used to say they are an adult and have maturity in that aspect. "Female" refers simply to the gender itself and not their maturity which is why I use it more often. I feel I can say that word without the person I'm referring to getting offended by any means or being called something they're not. Heck, even if the person is mature and you call them a "woman" sometimes that's not even fitting because the person may prefer to be called a "lady" because they may deem it more proper and nice.

 

Any of these words can have bad meaning and good meaning though. "Lady" for instance can be used quite negatively if used as a verbal attack on someone. Yet it still has this meaning of proper and nice. It all depends on: Your perspective, their perspective, and the meaning behind his/hers or your words.

[SkyDream 315]

I once heard the term, and I quote, "people with vaginas."  

 

I feel that the term is fairly self-explanatory. 

 

On the other hand, that may not include ovaries and a uterus. Theoretically you wouldn't have a uterus and/or ovaries without a vagina to reach them, but it is possible to have a vagina without the other two.

 

God.  Why am I typing all of this.  I apologize!

Edited July 26, 2014 by SkyDream

[Frosty Nerd 833]

My ex-boyfriend would always say "female", and it bothered me. I don't go around calling guys "males". What are those males up to? Hi males. You see that male over there? I usually say "girl" or "lady".

I once heard the term, and I quote, "people with vaginas."  

WOW! Hahahaha! Maybe we should start saying "people with penises", because all of this is not too biological, right? 

[SkyDream 315]

WOW! Hahahaha! Maybe we should start saying "people with penises", because all of this is not too biological, right? 

The world belongs to the Marketing department.

[Meson Bolt 2,647]

Rule of thumb, never take dating advice from someone who refers to women as "females".

[Evil Pink One 13,505]

8 minutes ago, Meson Bolt said:

Rule of thumb, never take dating advice from someone who refers to women as "females".

...........?..… I need more context here.

[The Kaeya Simp 13,988]

1 hour ago, Meson Bolt said:

Rule of thumb, never take dating advice from someone who refers to women as "females".

also my advice is to not date someone who refers to women as "females"

[daviddaviddavid 776]

Dunno, it's fine to describe a woman as being female in the right context as it's just an adjective, but something has always irked me about the use of 'female' as a noun. It sort of gives me incel vibes, as if the idea of women is so alien to the user that he feels the need to use a word which attributes precisely no human character to such a large collective of people. I'm pretty tired so it's hard to articulate my thoughts precisely, but that's sort of how I've always seen it

[Sonic Shimmer 4,131]

Most of the time if I see a guy referring to women as “females” it’s part of some kind of incel rant.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Sonic Shimmer

[Old Accnt. 3,149]

16 minutes ago, Sonic Shimmer said:

Most of the time if I see a guy referring to women as “females” it’s part of some kind of incel rant.

this is why I keep myself away from this stuff on the internet.

I don't need Stupid useless stuff in my brain,

[honk friend 1,978]

Calling women "females" is a massive red flag. People who do that reek of either incel, rapist, or general misogynist douche vibes.

[Lucky Bolt 35,061]

eh, i dont see anything wrong with using female/male. Y'all shouldn't get your feathers so ruffled. 

[EpicEnergy 23,139]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Male or female, it describes who you are and is a much better description than calling someone "it". Calling someone a male or female can be misused though, like saying "hey woman, how's it going?", which sounds disrespectful, especially coming from a man who said it in a condescending tone. 

So, in the end I suppose it all comes down to the tone you use and the context. You can't say that using the word male/female is inherently bad or incorrect, but you also can't say that it is inherently good or correct either.

PS. - don't just focus on women being called females, men being called males should also be taken into consideration if you want to avoid inconsistencies within your reasoning. While women being called females could be misused, so can men being called males, and to exclude one or the other results in discrimination of the excluded gender.

[CheeryFox 23,819]

Just don't say it in with anger. That's my gen. ❄ have too many buttons.