Is it degrading/condescending to refer to a woman as 'female'?

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Xantippe said:
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It is, unfortunately, a particularly common usage among the sort of man who has a mostly masturbatory interest in women and no other. I suspect that usage taints it.
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Also, Star Trek.

The Ferengi are always going on about “feeemales.” I couldn’t find an appropriate clip with use of the term, but here’s their general relationship philosophy (just one minute):

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Ok, I’m sorry, but you can hardly use the Ferengi as a good example for any argument. Unless you are talking about Muslim men who don’t let their women do things in public nor show their skin in public, the Ferengi really are not a good representation of men. But they did treat their women the exact same way that a lot of Muslim men treat women, and they actually wanted their women naked for “Chastity” reasons in the show - Quark was ashamed in one episode because his mom was wearing clothes.

When they did say the English word “woman,” it was like this WOOOOHHHHman. It always sounded to me like they sad “females” because it was easier for them to say and because they have “WO” sound.

So, I don’t think this is a good example… it’s a very extreme example, though a good parity of fundamentalist Muslims.

God Bless
 
How have we gotten to a point in society where we get so worked up about descriptors and their potential to cause offence? Especially when the words used are perfectly normal descriptors and the person using them is not intending to offend?

Is our society is going mad?
 
Actually you’re right, I’ve just remembered those lyrics, the female of the species is more deadly than the male.
 
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There’s a lot of weird stuff going on with language policing.

But this isn’t a case of that. Referring to “that female” or “females” in most general conversations just sounds awkward and like it’s being said by charity censor activated someone lacking good social skills or manners. It’s not common usage and rather impolite.
 
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As others have noted, using “female” or “male” as an adjective is fine. And if for some reason you were saying “males and females” rather than “men and women,” that would seem okay (if a bit formal and possibly better used for lower animals), too.

There is unfortunately a strain of men on the internet who manage to make “female” as a noun sound a lot like the sneering Ferengi version mentioned above. So that use of the word is kind of poisoned these days. It’s easy enough just to use “woman” or “women” instead, surely.
 
Oh dear!:grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes::grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
 
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JulianN said:
Female is an adjective, not a noun
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It can be used as both. I used it as a noun. Apparently you cannot do so; and, if you do, you are inherently degrading ‘this female’ to an antelope.
 
Irishmom2 said:
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AugustTherese:
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JulianN:
Female is an adjective, not a noun
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It can be used as both. I used it as a noun. Apparently you cannot do so; and, if you do, you are inherently degrading ‘this female’ to an antelope.
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You may have used it as a noun, but it is not a noun. Check a dictionary.
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I don’t know what dictionary that is, but my Webster’s dictionary does not have it as a noun. It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. It is not a word I really ever have need to use. I say man or woman, not male or female.
 
Yeah it’s not uncommon.

I don’t find the word offensive. It really depends on the context. What you described sounds perfectly fine. I think I tend to do that before, too.

Some examples I’ve read that made me uncomfortable is usually the ones that clearly meant women. Like there are tweets I have came across that are along the lines of ‘went out with a female tonight and she blah blah blah’ ‘females be like’ and so on. It’s just weird and can be quite dehumanizing, especially these guys only call women females, and men ‘men’. It’s slang, from what I see.

Ultimately it is a trivial thing to worry about, but it still make a lot of us uncomfortable.
 
It’s interesting that females instead of women is used a lot more than males instead of men. I don’t think it would be so jarring if both were used.
 
Irishmom2 said:
It doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. It is not a word I really ever have need to use. I say man or woman, not male or female.
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And, that is entirely your prerogative! But to say that ‘it is not a noun’ is incorrect.

I have a strong sense that many females (couldn’t help it) on this thread and the other have been induced by a form of sensationalism that can lead to a desire to change the meanings of words and parts of speech.

What’s next? Are we to revise every single application of any kind to state woman/man instead of male/female?
 
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AugustTherese said:
I have a strong sense that many females (couldn’t help it) on this thread and the other have been induced by a form of sensationalism that can lead to a desire to change the meanings of words and parts of speech.
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I doubt accusing us of being sensational will help your point. 😛
 
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But you phrased it as a claim, which is what an accusation can be. A claim of wrongdoing.
 
anon65111186 said:
fe + male = female
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Looks like it, but that is not really the connection. Got this from Merriam-Webster online dictionary:
Did You Know?
In the 14th century, female appeared in English with such spellings as femel, femelle, and female. The word comes from the Latin femella, meaning “young woman, girl,” which in turn is based on femina, meaning “woman.” In English, the similarity in form and sound between the words female and male led people to use only the female spelling. This closeness also led to the belief that female comes from or is somehow related to male. However, apart from the influence of male on the modern spelling of female, there is no link between the origins of the two words.
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The word male, by the way, derives from the Latin masculus.
 
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