To not find 'guys' an offensive term?

[DrSheldonCooperPHD]

We have a new manager at work. Our team is 20 people (12 women and 8 men).

New manager held a mini informal meeting this morning, all very nice and very chatty. At the end he said something along the lines of 'thanks guys, great meeting' and one of the women in the team said 'excuse me? guys? That's extremely offensive to the majority of the team who are female!' And walked out of the meeting room.
The MD was also in the room and he and new manager left for another meeting shortly after so I've no idea what happened (if anything) after.

Would this offend you? It didn't even really register with me until she piped up. Everyone seemed very bemused by it all.

It should bother you all.

My daughter hates being referred to as a 'guy'. Nothing that we have said made her say it.

Conditioning females to lose their own identities and fall under the 'guys' category is not equality

"Folk" grates on my nerves but I would not object to its use! Makes me think of interminable days at folk festivals listening to awful bands.

I use team - as in thanks team, team can we all get together for a quick catch up.

Was using "girls" for women 40s and over and thought it sounded dismissive, "guys" well they weren't, so settled on team. Team works for every situation and is gender neutral.

So would people her genuinely use the word guys if addressing a large group of women?
I wouldn't make a fuss but it does irritate me,that doesn't negate others feeling comfortable with it.

If folks is too folksy, team is a good idea.

“My daughter hates being referred to as a 'guy'.”

This is why it’s not acceptable.

What’s wrong with “ Good afternoon everyone “ ?

I'm in my 50's and guys has been used to mean a group of both sexes since the 80's, doesn't bother me at all. Some people do like to hold on tight to the past, the old ways, lol

If folks is too folksy, team is a good idea.

No, ‘team’ is way too David Brent! I’m older and don’t find guys used to a mixed group remotely offensive; I’d probably use it myself.

@Ludways Don't you think that we should question how things were done in the 80's? Society has shifted quite a bit. Holding onto the past is a lazy excuse for setting a bad example to younger generations

My son’s nursery used “friends”. As in “hey friends, let’s put our coats on and go outside! Hey friends, let’s put our toys away!”

I found it pretty cheesy to start with, but obviously when DS started copying them it immediately became adorable and cute. He does say “hey all you guys!” too.

@Ludways I'm old (er) and dont use the word "guy", it's just not how I speak, in my workplace it's the much younger members of staff who say "Hey listen Guys!"

I do strongly object to being called a "girl" at work though, that feels very dismissive.

So would those of you who have stronger opinions against using 'Guys' have called him out publicly like that or have spoken to him separately in private?

Spoken to either him or the MD (if I felt I could) privately. I don't for a moment think this man was being sexist. It's a term that's become so engrained in society.

That doesn't mean it's right. I hope this lady isnt vilified as a 'hysterical woman' but she probably is given the responses on here.

Exactly what @coolwalking said. My frustration at it being used would definitely not be so much aimed at that one particular colleague (who almost definitely had no malicious intent behind it by the sounds of it) so much as the fact it's a small bit of unconscious bias that is acceptable in the workplace. I wouldn't have wanted to make an example of him in public but it is something I would have probably mentioned in private.

It irks me that it's something that is considered gender neutral when, if you take a minute and think about it properly, it really isn't. I remember a colleague once hypothetically asking me if I thought a group of men in a professional meeting would be okay with being referred to as a feminine equivalent similar to 'guys'? If not, why? I hadn't really given it much thought till then but it's something that I've made an effort to be conscious of since and endeavoured to use more neutral language, like 'everyone'. It doesn't hurt.

I don't think it's remotely offensive. It's unisex to me. I would use it to a group of women.

So, if one's DP/DH was out with the guys you’d take that to mean they had gone out with a group of men and women? Or just men?
And if someone refers to 'a guy' 'this guy i met' 'some guy' etc they are definitely not referring to a woman.

Hence the usage is ambiguous at best.
And why do we take a word that refers to a man in the particular and apply it to a mixed group when used generally? The masculine should not be the default particularly when it's just not necessary.
As a PP upthread has it Conditioning females to lose their own identities and fall under the 'guys' category is not equality
If someone uses it to refer to a group of people that includes middle aged and cranky old me, it feels disrespectful and erasing. I‘m not a guy.

If anyone is in doubt or wants to prove those of us who are irritated by the wrong.....

If you have a daughter, ask her "are you a guy?"

Tarty - in the same way that saying "hey gang" does not mean you think the people in question are engaging in organised violence.

Guys is a mixed sex term surely when i used to waitress I'd always ask something like "hey guys what can i get for you" and i never had anyone complain or flounce out

She sounds like a professional tit

If someone said ‘a guy walked into the office’ you wouldn’t think they meant a woman. It’s not a gender-neutral term, it’s just women accepting male terms as including them. The Man Who Has It All points it out well, that we never see men going ‘I’m a policewoman, it’s an inclusive term that covers both men and women’.

I was talking to my sixth form girls about this and they were quite shocked when they realised. They were attempting to come up with an alternative and one said ‘I always use lads for mixed groups, and I never thought of that either’.

Wouldn't bother me at all - it's a gathering or group of people?

I do it all the time, mainly because there's no useful way to say "yous" in standard English.

I can't get excited about it being offensive at all. I get it, it paints men as the default, but sometimes I just feel like we all need to unclench a bit.

She sounds like a massive pain in the ass