Yes, thank you for saying what I was thinking, Olivia.
-
-
Sorry, did not know that reference. I generally dislike ‘ladies’, but that may be personal dislike.
-
It';s very typical in hyper-macho environments. E.g., Army superior to men running in barracks: "Come on ladies". Also yes, ladies is offensive due to this and many other reasons. I also dislike it. What's wrong with "women"?
-
Also at work, professionalism = calling women "women". Best comic on this: http://www.robot-hugs.com/girl-troubles/ pic.twitter.com/sjeG4xm1qI
-
Along similar lines, do you see it as a problem when men (or women) sometimes call men "boys"? Sometimes it's disrespectful, but other times it's an expression of camaraderie.
-
I refer to the above comic which says you can use any words you like in your spare time, but at work you have to be professional. Men are "men".
-
To be honest, I think using girl and boy to refer to adults has more corrosive effects in addition to sexism. It intersects with how we treat children and adults.
-
And of course since women are infantilised more than men even when they are not-yet-women (so teens and girls) it's a women's issue.
-
Professionalism at work is something we should all strive for. I can't force anybody to be professional though, I don't work in HR or the legal department, which certainly tries to ensure and promote professionalism within their organisation.
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
I'm only catching up with my notifications now. I'm also, only catching up with the nuanced cultural meanings attached to these words, which they don't teach you in school, only recently, since living in an English speaking country.
-
IMHO one of the first rules in professional communication is honesty in the aims. Using terms that are potentially demeaning is indicative of covert goals
-
I agree with you but sometimes, esp if you come from a non-English speaking culture, it takes a lot to understand which words carry demeaning tone. I honestly thought "ladies" and "women" were interchangeable till now. But I'm learning and tankful for y'all.
-
Which proves it is ultimately about what the speaker means by the words and what the hearer means by the words, not with some objective fact about any particular word.
-
Oh, God, no. Of course words within a basic context have fixed (fuzzy, with deviations, but the mean is known to a good enough degree) meanings, that's how we communicate. Is this how you would defend somebody who used the n-word? Awful logic.
-
One of the most interesting cases for me is the term Autism. In the past years I have used: Asperger, Autistic. Autistic Spectrum Disorder Autism Spectrum Condition Back to autistic People on the Autistic Spectrum (seems be safe, for now)
-
I think you missed my point. I never claimed it's fixed 100% through time. I claimed it's fixed within a basic context and with deviation.
-
For me that would be stretching the meaning of 'fixed' too much (which in a meta-sort-of-way would prove my point, perhaps)
- 23 more replies
New conversation -
-
-
but for builders, it's ok.
-
In the meantime you are all reading my blog post right? Cindy, CEO.
-
Builders use it to refer to men too? Ew.
End of conversation
New conversation -
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.



