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

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I’m not sure offended is the right term, in this case.

What I would say is - the term is commonly used in a way where there is good reason to take offense (whether they mean offense is probably irrelevant). Thus, when I see someone using the term in a similar manner, I’m going to be much more suspicious that they are sharing a similar ideology.

To use an example: sometimes, people who are not familiar with american english use words that are deemed slurs or insults, without knowing. But most of the people who use those terms are just plain old jerks. So if someone in the former category used such a word in the u.s., I would advise them to use another because using certain words in certain ways is likely to cause offense - because they’ll be taken for another jerk rather than someone being innocent.
 
But female is not a slur. The vast majority of the ways we use female is not a slur. Why let a tiny percentage of our population poison a word? Why give them that power?

The reason I am arguing so much about this is because certain elements of red pill are playing us. They know we will get all worked up and overreact with those who mean no offense. They are laughing their rears off. Afterwards, they go up to guys like the OP and go “Chicks, huh.”
 
KathleenT said:
But female is not a slur. The vast majority of the ways we use female is not a slur. Why let a tiny percentage of our population poison a word? Why give them that power?
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I don’t think it’s common to refer to women as “female” as a noun, other than a few specific contexts. It’s kind of like the word “it” - sure, it’s a perfectly good word, but it’s still insulting to refer to a person by that term.
 
DarkLight said:
I don’t think it’s common to refer to women as “female” as a noun, other than a few specific contexts. It’s kind of like the word “it” - sure, it’s a perfectly good word, but it’s still insulting to refer to a person by that term.
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“And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will.” Romans 8:27 NAB

😉
 
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I use the word all the time. Sometimes I will use girl, lady, or woman. I have never heard anyone be offended by any term. I will mostly use “female” when I do not want to offend based on age.
 
If anyone is offended by the use of the words male or female then they are the ones with a problem. This is political correctness gone mad!
 
UPersonally I have no problem with the word female. However I can see why when others may take offense.

I can see an overall pattern. This casual denigration of anything woman or female. You can see it in the casual referral to women by other names such as birds, chicks, tomatoes, freaks.

When you want to insult a woman you call her a whore or a female dog. To insult a man you insult his mother by calling him a SOB or son of a whore. In both cases it is women getting insult.
 
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It is because male is in the word female. It is viewed as an artifact of a male dominated world and women’s oppression. In other words, it implies that she is just an extension of the male ego to such an extent that our whole language in reference to the opposite sex reflects this ideology.

In other-words we really cannot refer to the opposite sex without referring also to man’s domination over women

I would say that we cannot be blamed as men for the faults of human history and language. We obviously don’t mean any harm referring to the opposite sex as female, its just how things are… We have no other word for them.
 
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Once i said to a person “hey women come over here”.

I found it amusing, she did not.
 
I had a great grandfather who used to address his wife as women, I don’t even think it was particularly unusual for the time and place.
 
Yeah I am offended by people saying man and guy all the time.

Hey man, what are you up to?

Come over here guys.

Oh, the pain.
 
I have a clown fish in my aquarium I’ve named “hot mama”. I hope that is not too inappropriate.
 
These days, if someone gets offended by something I say, I apologize for triggering them. I help them find a safe space for deep breathing and self-comfort exercises and offer to wear a ribbon for the next month identifying myself as a micro-aggressor. If they’re still upset, I agree to do 20 hours of community service including giving a talk at their college entitled “How What I Said Was So Wrong and Why I Won’t Do It Again.”
 
AugustTherese said:
I had absolutely no idea…
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If not to call them female, is any less we should refer to a lady as woman? After all the word “woman” as man in it. Whether we say female, with male in it. Or woman, with man in it. Does she want to get rid of the “he” in she as well? And since we cannot say all women (forgive me. Maybe I will use lady instead.) So let me state that again (ahem…clearing throat), not all ladies necessarily are against being called female, a woman, or she. So it isn’t considerate to ladies, to say all of them want to see it this way. Then we can just say ladies or lady, right? Which to me seems a much more dignified role, and place of that person who bears the opposite gender than that of a man. But do know, men see this attention to “lady” in the same way he says “queen.”

In that way, I don’t blame ladies wanting to no longer use words like female, she, or woman. Because, their dignified respect has been lessened. And no longer treated as a lady. Thus, a certain royal reflection ought to bear when men address someone born with attributes of the opposite gender. And therefore should not only call them ladies, but to treat them as well, as a lady should.
 
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I feel like people are making this into something it’s not.

There’s nothing wrong with the word female; however there are certain contexts where it can come across as dehumanizing, especially if you’re getting “men and females” type of phrasing. If it’s a place where “woman” (a word specifically for humans) would be expected, using “female” often seems to downplay our status as equals. It’s very often used in contexts by men who wish to equate women with breeding animals to use for men’s pleasure - again, often marked by the phrasing where men are called men, but women are called females. Similarly, referring to someone as “woman” when a name or another form of personal address such as ma’am or miss would be expected is likely to not be taken well.

To me, it would be very odd for a man to say he was dating a “female,” and it would be something I would at least be unsure about his attitude. It seems very odd that when women are saying a certain phrasing isn’t good, suddenly there’s this huge backlash and they are made out to be saying anything that refers to femaleness is objectionable and sexist (which isn’t what anyone is saying). The fundamental objection is to using a word that downplays humanity - as another person said, terms that you would typically use when talking about an animal and not a human, in speaking that way.

Words have always had connotations beyond the dictionary definition. Most people get that in most contexts, but when there’s a chance to rail against feminists instead it seems many people want to take that.

And regarding the original quote - I would find it equally odd and probably insulting if a woman referred to a man as a “male”.
 
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