west@sdcsla.UUCP (12/13/83)
<<<as tired as everyone else of this (almost)>>> Doug Alan ("genrad!mit-eddie!nessus") says: .... But I cannot see how any reasonable person could object to the term girl. I would not be offended if I were called a boy. To me, the term "girl" means "youthful human female". I would much rather have as a friend someone youthful (at least in spirit) than someone who is so self-conscious about their own maturity that they feel insulted if it is implied that they have youthful properties. I guess I like "girls" better than "women" and "boys" better than "men". .... Well, it's nice that you don't explicitly consider "girl" to be a putdown. But do you really expect a 40-year-old women to relish being refered to as a ``girl''? The connotations of "child" are certainly there, whether you mean for them to be or not. Someone named Cindy posed the question (like this): ``why do people insist on refering to others by an appellation which annoys them?'' I think that's the key here: 1) there is a reasonable chance that someone will be offended by your use of the term "girl" in certain contexts; 2) you are aware of this; 3) the use of the term can be avoided. It's not a big issue, and no one is going to get violent about it, but what is the point in being intentionally insensitive to others' preferences?
west@sdcsla.UUCP (12/14/83)
<<<ooops!>>> I forgot to sign my article "re: Doug Alan's 'Girls' article". My apologies for this violation of net.etiquette. -- Larry West UC San Diego possible net addresses: -- ARPA: west@NPRDC -- UUCP: ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcsla!west -- or ucbvax:sdcsvax:sdcsla:west
wetcw@pyuxa.UUCP (12/14/83)
As my sainted grandmother once told me after I came home crying about being called names by the bigger kids (I was 7). "Never mind what anyone calls you, just be sure they don't call you late for supper.":-)