To wonder why some people call male babies "little man" but don't call female babies "little woman"?

[TheHouseOnTheLane]

I've seen a few people on here who don't like the term "Little Man" and I'm one of them.

I couldn't articulate why until just now...when I realised it's because nobody calls female babies "little woman"...they might say "Little Lady" but they don't want to call a baby girl a woman because they like infantalising females....and it's not "flattering" or something for a girl baby to be called a woman whereas a male baby can't be "manly" soon enough because being a man is always a positive thing....am I right?

yabu and over thinking it\ i had a similar name for my dd. it was just something I said,

I think you are massively over thinking it .

I don't know if you are right or not but when my dds were babies I used to call them women - it just suited them

I hate "Lil man" more!

I think you make a very good point.

I just think it's a bit twee.

I think so too Thursday I know that to some people it's "over thinking" but I also think that the attitudes to women will only change when the small stuff is challenged as often as the big stuff. The small stuff just shows how ingrained these attitudes are.

But why do you consider woman to be a more mature word for a female than lady?

Bunny because "Lady" has connotations of a certain code of behaviour,...it's not a more "Mature" word exactly but it's more forthright.

I mean that "woman" is more forthright.

Does it? Okay...

Bunny yes it does. It's often seen as an unnecessary word on MN. Anyone posting "Hello Ladies" will usually be met with derision.

Women is the equivalent of man
Lady is the equivalent of gentleman

So anyone who says "little man" should be happy saying "little women"

Hopefully everyone says neither as it makes them sound like a prick.

I think it's because women are visibly very different (breasts, curves) than girls, whereas boys are basically just smaller men.

"Lady" is a role and not the word for an adult human female, so "Little Lady" can be used for girls.

I agree there's something underlying using it for one and not the other. And often enough we see men referred to as men but grown women referred to as girls.

I have 2 dds and have always called them little woman.

I think it's got nothing to do with infantilising females and wanting baby boys to be manly sooner. You might have had a point if there was no female equivalent, but there is. To my ear, 'Little woman' sounds a bit clunky. I would also think of it as a slightly patronising/pejorative term sometimes used against an adult female, which is a slightly different issue, which would make it odd to say to a baby.

I call all my babies "little sausage".

I think you're right OP. I hate hearing babies being called "little man".

cote my toddler nephew is nothing like a man! Men have biceps and wide shoulders and adam's apples. He's soft and the same as a girl toddler but for his genitalia.

I've said little man now and then, little prince and probably many other silly little names along the way. I really can't be arsed what folk think about it.

What about when one person says to another 'son' when they arent related?
I hear it a lot
'Oh thank you son' from customers to my brother.
But ive never heard anyone say thank you daughter?

Well not in English lol

My husband doesn't have biceps or wide shoulders, does that mean he isn't a man? What an odd way of putting it. I have bigger biceps and wider shoulders than dh, I am a power lifter, does that make me manly? Stereotype much? Ds takes after me, tall wide shouldered etc.

Little man is a shit twee name. Little woman, imo, has too many syllables for anyone to want to use it.

When calling kids nicknames people just say what comes into their head. You are over thinking it. It's has nothing to do with how people view men and women. My dds nickname is 'moo' don't even know where it came from, people used to stick it on the end of a shortened versions of her given name and it stuck. The whole family calls her it. We are in no way implying she looks or behaves like a bovine or indeed she would be better if she acted as a bovine.

"I agree there's something underlying using it for one and not the other. And often enough we see men referred to as men but grown women referred to as girls."

People use this all of the time. It really depends. I say a ladies night or girls night, not sure what my husband says - "boys, lads, guys?", never "men". I think people overthink it and the trrms chop and change all the time.

Ds has banned me from calling him my baby. He is almost 5 and points out that he is now a big boy. Saying 'oh poor big boy' sounds shit so I don't say it.