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Original poster

To find the word "female" demeaning

128 replies

LoraPiano · 10/02/2023 10:56

I increasingly see women being referred to as "female" as in "that female over there" or "a female approached my husband" or "females like chocolate". I hear it from both men and women, but especially from the younger generation, and usually about younger women.

Is it me or this is a little rude and insulting? Like there are reducing them to their gender and completely taking the person our of it. It's not a female giraffe, or a female bird.

Am I old fashioned? What's wrong with just saying woman/girl/lady etc?

OP posts:
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5
Calphurnia88 · 10/02/2023 11:33

It does sound very strange used as a noun

Workawayxx · 10/02/2023 11:36

I think it's fine in some contexts, as a descriptive word where needed eg police description "the suspect is female, 5'5", long blonde hair...".

Calling someone "a female" or saying "females like chocolate" is different and demeaning - the word "male" wouldn't be used in the same way.

Galadriel90 · 10/02/2023 11:39

It's quite literally dehumanising. Which we need less of, IMO!

SiobhanSharpe · 10/02/2023 11:41

It seems to be commonly used in police reports or statements eg 'the suspect was a female aged around 18' or 'the victim was a female from the Ipswich area' and I think in part this may be because they do not know the woman's exact age, i.e. she could be a girl under 18 or a woman aged 18 or over.
They also use 'male' same way but also used to say 'youth' for a male known to be under 18. Not sure if they still do.
I agree it doesn't sound great.

Lottapianos · 10/02/2023 11:41

I hate it too OP. It's fine as an adjective, but not as a noun. Female people are either women or girls, not 'females'

JemimaTiggywinkles · 10/02/2023 11:41

I find it dehumanising because it is dehumanising. "female" can refer to any species at all. So "a female" on its own isn't okay imo. "a female person" is better, though I prefer the term "woman".

Shortpoet · 10/02/2023 11:41

“Female friends” is fine, because female is an adjective in that phrase.

”I’m going to met up with some females” it is being used as a noun which is what is being objected to.

JemimaTiggywinkles · 10/02/2023 11:42

"the suspect is female, 5'5", long blonde hair..."

This is using female as an adjective, not a noun. Which isn't that bad imo.

RingRingRingGoesTheTelephone · 10/02/2023 11:44

I'm confused? I mean I'd naturally say woman, young girl, little girl in conversation but female is just another way of saying that 🤷‍♀️. It's just a word that describes people of that sex that covers all ages.

The only time I wouldn't be impressed would be if it was used to describe a man.

SockGoddess · 10/02/2023 11:49

I don't mind the adjective female, I am female and I don't mind being described as female, but as a noun "that female over there" I do find it a bit uncomfortable. I'm in Scotland and I've noticed it's a thing older men often do here, especially when being a bit disparaging. It sounds like David Attenborough talking about a leopard. (Although I don't think it's a deliberately incel thing with these older blokes - just a weird habit)

betweenarockandhardplace · 10/02/2023 11:51

Brefugee · 10/02/2023 11:09

it makes the person saying it sound like an Incel Ferengi.
But i get why some people are using it now instead of "woman". Perhaps Human Female might be better. But then probably not given the shenanigins around that.

Yes, I'd assume it was a niche Star Trek joke!

ChannelyourinnerElsa · 10/02/2023 11:51

I’ve now read the word female so much it sounds completely foreign in any context.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 10/02/2023 11:53

I don't like it either, but if I need to use it to differentiate from male people who identify as women, I will.

OMG12 · 10/02/2023 11:54

It became necessary once men put in frocks and started to call themselves women. We need to distinguish based on sex so female is the obvious answer.

if men stopped stealing our stuff it wouldn’t be necessary - but the trans ideology is about dehumanising women so men can get their way

TangledWebOfDeception · 10/02/2023 11:55

@OMG12 It's important to keep using the correct terms.

Woman. Man. End of.

LemonJuiceFromConcentrate · 10/02/2023 11:55

Dijoduo · 10/02/2023 11:12

Using “female” as a noun (“there’s a female over there”) rather than an adjective (“she is female”) is a common trait in incel culture and is used to dehumanise women. This is because, traditionally, “female” was only used as a noun to refer to animals (“the females gathered by the waterhole to look for mates”) and female humans were simply called “women”.

Yes, this matches my sense of what’s going on with the ‘nounification’ of the word

Velvian · 10/02/2023 11:59

YANBU. Female what? Female giraffe? Female hamster. It is used to dehumanise, someone so awful that they must be another species.

EatYourVegetables · 10/02/2023 12:01

It’s an adjective not a noun, and it’s biologically sounding and offensive to me, yes.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 10/02/2023 12:01

@OMG12 It's important to keep using the correct terms.

Woman. Man. End of.

I completely agree, but sometimes people act deliberately obtuse to pretend they think you're including male people.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 10/02/2023 12:02

I would say "female person" though. But quite often refer to "males" where I can't say "men".

Original poster
LoraPiano · 10/02/2023 12:03

Wow I had no idea about the trans angle... but just because men/trans people are trying to appropriate the word "women" we shouldn't have to give it up and be content with a lesser word. I don't see "female" as a positive replacement for "woman" and wouldn't embrace it.

But of course easier said than done and I don't know much about the gender/trans debate.

OP posts:
Original poster
LoraPiano · 10/02/2023 12:04

Ereshkigalangcleg · 10/02/2023 12:02

I would say "female person" though. But quite often refer to "males" where I can't say "men".

Why can't you say "men"?

OP posts:
RebulahConundrum · 10/02/2023 12:04

It's dehumanising. You NEVER hear men referred to as males.

squishee · 10/02/2023 12:05

Is frequently used on here to define woman. Adult human female.

TangledWebOfDeception · 10/02/2023 12:05

LoraPiano · 10/02/2023 12:03

Wow I had no idea about the trans angle... but just because men/trans people are trying to appropriate the word "women" we shouldn't have to give it up and be content with a lesser word. I don't see "female" as a positive replacement for "woman" and wouldn't embrace it.

But of course easier said than done and I don't know much about the gender/trans debate.

Time to do some delving. Awareness is really crucial atm.