Men: Why You Should Call Us Women, Not “Females” or “Girls”
Calling women “girls” or “females” is to infantilize and dehumanize us, minimizing our power and humanity.
If you are unintentionally interchanging the terms, “women,” “females,” and “girls,” it serves you to be more conscious of the weight and connotations of these words. Also, note that being dismissive when a woman calls you out for using the terms “female” or “girl” also is not ok. You may think a woman is making a fuss out of nothing, causing drama, or being petty in “nit-picking” words.
But please, to the men who do not see what is wrong with the terms “female” or “girl” when referring to a woman, please, I plead with you, try considering a woman’s perspective and the larger, broader cultural context.
It is no coincidence that the discussion of whether women like to be called “girls” has been discussed in Forbes Magazine, in an article from August 9, 2021, by Susan Madsen, “Why Calling Women ‘Girls’ Is a Bigger Deal Than You May Think.” Madsen aptly notes in her preamble that men are seldom called “boys,” and yet women are regularly referred to as “girls,” even commonly in workplace settings.
Madsen counters the question of this possibly being a big deal and the point that some women also call each other girls with the following line of thought: “But could this…
