to think not everyone has "the girls", goes out for "girly chats" etc

[CaptainWarbeck]

It does my head in and I don't know why. One of my friends is always referring to 'the girls' when she talks about her mates, and when we go for coffee together she gushes about us having such a good 'girly catch up'.

What makes it so 'girly' other than us just both being female?! I have just as good in-depth chats with male friends and I also just have a bunch of different pals who I see at different times, rather than a select group of female friends who go out on the town together as 'the girls' - usually while their boyfriends/husbands have a 'lads night out'.

Why does this annoy me so much!!

Oops this

'Going out with the women'

'A women's night out'

These alternatives just don't sound right.

I agree we shouldn't be calling adult females girls but I don't see a realistic alternative.

Going out wth the pals/friends/mates/ nonbinary companions loads of options

Yeah, but it only sounds odd to you because it's not commonly used.

Like vulva, and Ms sound weird to people because they're not used to it

I do have ‘the girls’ I guess ... although I don’t refer to them as that. Would never say ‘girly chats’ I’d define it as ‘unreasonable but necessary bitching sesh’, ‘catch-up’, or ‘diabolical plan making.’

"Going out with my friends"?
"Going out"?
"Going out with Mary, Jane and Emily"?
"Going out with my woman friends"?

I think posse could work in these circumstances.

Or coven?

I think what irks me about it is that - whilst most of my friends are women - they're my friends because we've got something in common other than the fact that we're female. My dh doesn't go out with "the boys" either - he goes out to do X, with Y and Z. It isn't a deliberately sex-segregated evening.

YANBU.
Invite me out for a drink/catch up/night out and I'll be well up for it,
Invite me on a "girls night out", or worse "mum's night out" and I'll make my excuses!

Tealdeal err, "going out with some friends" works does it not?
I've never felt weird saying that I went out with a friend of friends for drinks, never had any strange looks for not specifying whether or not my company had vaginas or not!

I dislike the term "girly" night out, or anything "girly" tbh.
I am not a "girly" girl or woman, and never have been. I don't hanker after shoes, bags or shopping. I don't spend time on hair and nails, and I rarely wear make up (although I will wear it for a dressy occasion). And I really don't like pink!

As such, I don't go on "girly" nights out, or "pamper" (ugh) sessions or any of those things that people associate with "girly" women.

I did, however, have a "coven" - a set of female friends who were mostly non-girly as well. It was a standing joke among us.

Now, I have nights out with friends, usually women - but they're not "girly" nights out, ever. They can, however, be mums' nights out because now, all my friends in this area ARE mums. That's just the way it is these days. That doesn't mean we spend all the time comparing our offspring's behaviour/ personalities/ achievements - we talk about all sorts of stuff! But if I didn't go on "mum's" nights out, I wouldn't go out at all unless it was with DH or DH and the DC.

Where'smyTaco - that meme you're talking about, where women can't park etc., is almost as bad as this godawful advert that used to be around in the Antipodes for a sanitary towel - thankfully no longer used!

I despise the categorising of women as vapid thickos who can't do maths, can't park, only care about shopping and their appearance. It's FINE to do all of those things, by the way - but they don't apply to ALL women, which ads like these (and the meme you're talking about) suggest they do.

Interesting - there's a space for the picture on my post but it's not showing - here's the link for it www.insideretail.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/libra-maths-ad.jpg

My SIL seems to have 'girly catch' ups all the time. I can't work out what they talk about. To me having a catch up is with someone I haven't seen for a while, not with someone I saw yesterday.

Since we were early 20's my group of friends were fondly known as 'the witches circle', kindly named by a couple of our then boyfriend's. This has stuck and in our 40's us witches still get together quite regularly. I still see my ex and he always asks after the witches and says it's nice to still see us all together after all these years.....

My in-laws talk like this about their own friends. 'Meeting up with the boys' and 'seeing the girls'. They're in their 70s. It makes me cringe.

Funny, isn't it? Girls, witches, coven-all fine. Women? Not so much.

I might get shot down here because I'm not British but I find its more the working class women who would say 'girlies'. It makes me cringe to be honest.

Lads' night out, boys' weekend away, blokes' only night out. No difference for men.

** no apostrophe for blokes

Or boys for that matter. Ffs

Love love love catching up with my dear female friends

But we are not girly !

I agree Tealdeal.And well said Davidmaynard. I will continue to meet the girls ( barrister, practice manager, MP aide etc) . We will have the odd glass of wine (very occasionally prosecco if that's what we fancy) and we will talk about every subject under the sun including politics and economics.

'Cocktails with the girls'

Why not just say that you're going out with your mates/friends? I agree that 'the girls' is infantile.