Comments on: Attention, Girls!

By: Imaginary

Imaginary — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:43:04 +0000

Water makes you pee.

Can womin start wearing diapers around the office? We could just go where ever we want, and the men would be in the bathroom all the time because they aren’t in the know about Pamper’s Womanly brand, so womin would dominate the corporate world.

By: Isa

Isa — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:47:21 +0000

“(another pet peeve of mine is at the grocery store when you leave and they say “Have a nice day Emily” just cause they read your name off of your credit card or check. I didn’t introduce myself to you and I’m not wearing a name tag. Just “have a nice day” or “have a nice day Miss lastname”. I don’t like the implied familiarity.)”

I know I’m late to the party here but that DRIVES ME NUTS. I am a bank teller and I see other people I work with doing it to our members all the time. I refuse to do it. I will call them by their first name if they introduce themselves to me. Until then, it’s Mr. or Ms. Lastname. And I do NOT like to be called by my first name by strangers either (especially considering how often they mispronounce it… on the other hand my surname is also unpronounceable).

But the real reason I HAD to comment on this post:

“You can quit calling us girls. I prefer Dr. Sharper.”

BAD. ASS. That is so awesome.

By: kithkin

kithkin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:01:11 +0000

@tothejenthpower: You’re right, I can’t come up with one either. It changes for the plural, though, at least I think it does. I can imagine calling a group of women “you guys,” as in “what are you guys doing later?” or “guys, settle down,” or something like that. This may be inaccurate or weird or it may reflect the fact that I spend almost all my time in mostly-male or at least mixed settings. I know we have some women’s college alumnae–how was it there? Was “guys” a term you heard or used?

By: tothejenthpower

tothejenthpower — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 03:18:34 +0000

I remember reading somewhere that there’s no feminine equivalent (in American English) to the word ‘guy’. I wish I could remember where I’d stumbled across that nifty little factoid, because it was quite a tidbit for thought. Because, really? I’ve thought about it, and I can’t come up with one. ‘Guy’, as a rule, carries no baggage; it just refers to a male person of any age of position. No judgment, generally. I honestly can’t think of a feminine version of the word. I kind of feel like I’m forced to choose between ‘girl’, ‘gal’, ‘woman’, ‘lady’, ‘chick’ or ‘broad’. Each one does carry a particular message, if you think about it. What’s a girl-gal-woman-lady-chick-broad to do?!

By: elibard

elibard — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:29:23 +0000

@BeckySharper – my mother sometimes calls me Mrs. HusbandFirstName HusbandLastName because she knows it pisses me off. I absolutely hate it, and no discussion stems the tide. Then my stepmom does it, too, with no malicious intent whatsoever, but I hate it equally. Sigh. I think there I’m being put in my 1950s-determined place, at least verbally, much as I refuse it in reality.

And Kithkin, I think you’ve hit that nail squarely – I love the info about crests! How funny! Indeed, progeny popping (which makes me think of Lil Bunny Foufou) is required in order not to disappear from history entirely, according to said patriarchy. Sigh.

I still insist on wearing my family’s kilt, even though women aren’t technically supposed to wear them!

By: kithkin

kithkin — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:09:14 +0000

I find it interesting that I’m technically Mrs. Husband’s First Name Husband’s Last Name, but if he were to die or we divorced, I would be Ms. Kithkin Father’s Last Name once more. I am not, on my reading of Emily Post, Mrs. Kithkin Husband’s Last Name. That’s his mother, I think. I am still supposed to use my father’s crest (and both our families, hilariously, have crests, though mine uses ours more), not my husband’s. I don’t remember if this is true once couples have children. Guess I just pass from dudely possession to dudely possession, and my place is only secure if I manage to pop out some progeny.

By: Flackette

Flackette — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:47:09 +0000

I’m fine with either Ma’am or Miss. They’re both roughly equivalent terms by which to address an adult woman (although Ma’am generally skews older). I will also accept Ms. Flackette, and when I finish my Ph.D., Dr. Flackette.
You know what I really miss? Adults teaching their kids to call other adults Miss, Mrs., Ms., or Mr. so-and-so. I heard that Reese Witherspoon instructs her kids to always use titles, even if it precedes a first name (like “Miss Mary” instead of “Miss Smith). If kids don’t learn to use appropriate titles and manners early on, how can we be surprised if they call people less-than-respectful things later in life?

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:18:39 +0000

@funnyface: Whenever I go to weddings where the couple is introduced as “Mr. and Mrs. John Doe”, I get major frowny-face. There is just no excuse for that in this day and age. EVER.

By: funnyface

funnyface — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:03:59 +0000

I like that elibard. Saying something often enough makes it true, and I certainly have found it to be true in my self image, of focusing on saying positive things to myself, about myself. Maybe if we tell ourselves often enough that we are women, it will stick as well.

Becky, I generally put Ms. on everything too. I can handle Mrs., though I don’t usually use it myself. But heaven forbid anyone ever refers to me as Mrs. Husband’sfirstname Lastname. Because my first name is NOT Jon.

By: elibard

elibard — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:36:37 +0000

I went to a women’s college. Even before I started there, the denizens insisted that we were already “women.” The current students and alumnae all called us women, and continued to reinforce the term. It felt odd, as I was still in high school, to refer to myself as a woman, but I quickly grew to love it. It recognized my maturity, my independence of thought and action, my responsibility for myself and my community, my readiness to take on all of the intellectual, practical, moral and emotional challenges that everyone faces. It was adult. It recognized that I was already doing all of these things, taking on these responsibilities, and that I was ready for more. It reflected the growing I had already done, and my total personhood, whereas “girl” implies incompleteness. And it was real. I still use it and call the young women I know “women.” They usually give me odd looks at first, but they come to appreciate it, too. Of course, as I get older, I still like to identify myself as a “girl” too, with my friends. And that’s about recognizing and allowing the kid side of myself, too. But I am never less than a woman, even when I am a “girl.”