• schmidtster@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    My god, is every word going to get canceled eventually?

    When did using the term male and female become problematic?

    • Ahornygirl@lemmynsfw.com
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      8 months ago

      It became problematic when misogynists began using the term female as a way to dehumanize women. These men feel the need to blame all of their problems on women while simultaneously believing that a woman will also solve all their problems. It’s an easy outlet to channel their rage while accepting zero responsibility for their own actions.

      • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        News flash, every word is going to be used for that. You have use context and intent in every interaction, don’t try to change other people just to make your life easier from a couple bad eggs. Yeesh.

        • Ahornygirl@lemmynsfw.com
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          8 months ago

          don’t try to change other people just to make your life easier.

          Isn’t that what you’re trying to do right now?

          • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Pointing something out isn’t trying to change other people, but okay.

            But it’s good to know there is a new red flag to look out for in interactions with women. Is that word okay? Misogynists use that too, which term is acceptable in this exchange? Nah I’m leaving this lol.

            This is gonna have the Streisand effect, trying to pick the term you want is only going to fuel the wrong ones. It’s why it hasn’t taken off and why very few people know or even care. It’s hilarious that it’s a thing.

              • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                An op-ed on an extremely biased site means nothing to the general public. And is a far cry from being an “article” that should be taken seriously.

                People use those sources in closed groups to validate each others biased opinions.

                It’s a few people making a mountain out of a peanut.

                I stand by my yeesh.

                When I googled it, I found nothing but similar op-Ed’s. This isn’t a thing.

                • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  It’s mainly a problem when it’s the only pronoun they use for women. There are plenty of incel type dudes who only use females when referring to women. There is appropriate context when utilizing female, but it’s typically used to delineate the sex of an animal, whether human or otherwise.

                  The reason they only utilize females is because it objectifies a person down to their sexual reproduction capabilities. Which within incel ideology makes women second class citizens.

            • Ahornygirl@lemmynsfw.com
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              8 months ago

              It’s funny to me because I didn’t make the initial comment. I did reply, to offer an opinion, as did another… however you chose only reply to the one person with “girl” in their name.

              Editing to add that I see you did make another comment below, so I’ll leave my original comment even though I am now mistaken in my reply!

              • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                What’s even funnier is, I replied to the parent comment and you responded to that one… and are now accusing me of only responded to a girl name, when that’s not even remotely the case.

                Fuckin red flags every holy shit lmfao. Keep telling people to not use “females” so we can avoid interaction with people like you.

                • Psychodelic@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Well you convinced me. There are absolutely incels that when told some women don’t like this, they actively choose to defend it at all costs. Fascinating! Keep up the good fight. Show those women who’s boss!! Defend your masculinity or the English language or whatever it is you’re trying to do

                  • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    Ah yes. I’m an incel for pointing out that a person accusing me of responding to them actually responded to me first….

                    Fucking lmfao. Not everyone is an incel because they have a different opinion, and that’s not even what the word is used for.

                    The amount of feminists parading around their red flags is awesome. But yes, the males are the ones to blame here fucking lmfao…

    • buzziebee@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      At least 10 or 15 years ago was when I first got informed about it. It’s likely been problematic for much longer. Its really not that hard to use the word “women” instead. Usually when people refer to men they use the word “men”, so it’s only fair to use women also. Females feels a bit icky tbf. Like women are a different species or something.

      • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        The term women is used in derogatory ways by misogynists too. No word is safe. Yeesh.

        Trying to change this is only going to make it worse, Streisand effect kind of thing.

        • some_guy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          8 months ago

          Dude you have a dozen people saying “use a different word” and you just keep fighting back that you want to keep using it and they’re wrong.

          Go ahead buddy, keep using “females.” I can guarantee they won’t be using you.

        • otp@sh.itjust.works
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          8 months ago

          The problem is when people use “female” and “men”.

          Male and female are sort of dehumanizing words. Great to use in science, but awkward to use in casual conversation. It’s like telling someone “Your epidermis looks so smooth”.

          When you use “females” in combination with more appropriate word for males (e.g., “men”), you end up sounding like an incel or something.

          And since people generally don’t use “males” when talking about men casually, even just using “females” outside an academic context is enough to make it sound a lot like how an incel would speak.

          So “females” isn’t a bad word, but incels use it in a way that demeans women. If you use it in a non-scientific context, you’ll probably end up sounding like an incel.

          (All the "you"s are meant to be the “general you”; I’m not trying to pick on anyone in particular)

          • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I have a female friend group and male friend group.

            Men and women sounds weird there, boy and girl can be taken wrong.

            Lots of people use the terms in every day use, I don’t know why it’s being claimed it’s not. People slip up, make mistakes.

            This just seems like an entire reverse white night scenario. People getting mad over nothing or just wanting to be angry about something.

            • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
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              8 months ago

              I have a female friend group and male friend group.

              The gendered terms there are adjectives which describe the two friend groups. Sounds fine.

              But using “female” by itself to refer to a woman should be avoided unless the speaker actually wants to sound like a Ferengi.

              No moral conflict or language policing necessary, just an awareness of the tonal implications of one’s word choices.

              • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                Right people are human and make mistakes, so to accidentally use the term interchangeable is perfectly acceptable.

                People are trying to make an issue out of nothing, the only op-Ed’s on this is a decade old at this point.

                It’s not a thing, and never will be. Use context to help you instead of just deciding a word is suddenly derogatory.

                • knightly the Sneptaur@pawb.social
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                  8 months ago

                  Hence, this thread where someone pointed out that the word choice might have unintentional implications, which triggered a few oversensitive incels who percieved it as an attack on their choice to speak dismissively of women.

                  • schmidtster@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    Nah, it’s the reverse, it’s a red flag for men to avoid women who try to say it’s misogynistic and not appropriate.

                    Context makes it okay or not, not the word itself.

                    Theres also more people explaining why it’s okay instead of people defending it, so I don’t know what your point was there.

        • buzziebee@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I was just giving you some context. It isn’t some new complaint that’s just popped up. It’s also not a huge deal. You do you if you want to keep using the word “females” instead of women.

          Re: the Streisand effect. Anyone getting excited that they’ve found a new “trigger” and choosing to use it despite someone else calmly suggesting that a different word is better isn’t really worth any consideration.