Is calling 'people' 'folk' part of gender ideology rewriting language norms or is it separate?

[Gofastboatsmojito]

I've noticed this a lot in the last couple of years, it seems much more common in articles broadly on board with GI, pronouns, using the word Queer to describe anyone not achingly boring.

I've also noticed it coming out the mouths of my friends who are more TWAW inclined.

The word 'people' doesn't seem to have explicit links with biological realism or gender critical beliefs but it seems out of fashion in some circles.

Is this coincidence and more related to younger trendier language (!) or is it chosen for a reason?

I'm from the south of England and have noticed this too among the more GI-supportive people I know. They also tend to say human, as in "Oh thank you, you lovely human!"

I'm.going to start calling everyone "chums".

I’m in Central Scotland - the word folk is common and always has been, no connotations intended at all

I say 'right folks' to my class when I want attention. It's better than guys

@GiveMeMySoddingCokeZero See also “eleventy-billion”. Pretty sure I identified a colleague as a MN-er when she used that in an email

Isn't that what Michelle from ze Resistance says when she starts speaking English?

It’s not a coincidence. I’m a lesbian in my 30s and where I am in the company of so called queer people (like you say means basically anyone who wants to Identify into that label) they all use it.

infact I’ve been told off twice for using hey guys / girls.

men and their hand maidens policing everyone’s speech

Men and their hand maidens policing everyone’s speech

Now on the subject of the use of words, this is one that often puzzles me. Why do people refer to female supporters of GI as "handmaidens"? From what I remember of the book, the handmaids were not willing participants in Gilead. They were slaves effectively. These female pronouners are more akin to Aunt Lydia than handmaids.

Yes, it's definitely very commonly used in more "woke" circles (lived in Bristol for years). It makes me cringe, although folx is worse.

Because they are doing men's dirty work for them out of self-hatred and an inferiority complex.

A minister from a church I used to go to used the word folk or folks all the time, I'm pretty sure it was part of his dialect rather than being trendy (it was 15+ years ago) He was Welsh if that makes a difference.

Within our own family me and DD refer to the males in the house as "menfolk" and she refers to me and DH as "parentfolk".

I'm in Scotland and use 'folk' and 'folks' all the time.

Always have and nothing to do with gender.

This is a term I've always used. I hope it isn't appropriated.

But that's not what the handmaids did. They generally weren't collaborators.

I went through a phase of regularly (politely!) pulling people up at work for using "guys", I work in a traditionally male dominated industry and found it really grating, especially if I was the only woman or if there were (miraculously) more women than men in the group being referred to. Folks is a good alternative, in my opinion, and is mostly used to avoid guys where I work.

Secondary teacher in Scotland here. We are encouraged to use 'folks' instead of 'guys' or gendered terms like 'ladies and gentlemen'. I associate it with woke nonsense (perhaps wrongly) so I call my classes all sorts instead: 'you lucky little ducks', 'you bunch of horrors', 'you noisy lot', etc.

Scottish lecturer here, and always use folks - right, folks, today we are going to cover XYZ - at work. My place is as woke as woke can be, so finally I am (inadvertently) playing the game.

@Marblessolveeverything

The word for a bunker or storage place is ‘Silo’. I can find no trace of a noun ‘sylo’ in English, although it is the name of a corporation quoted on the US stock exchange.

For someone who is currently issuing dictats on other posters’ language, you have some curious oversights, or should I say ‘over sites’?

@RebelMoon

‘Handmaid ‘ has a long history , Atwood didn’t make it up. Gilead appropriated it from the biblical story of Abraham who had a child by his wife’s maidservant when his wife was ‘barren’. Handmaid has the connotation of being fairly low status within a complex household, probably without education or much self determination , but eager to please and ‘serve’ .

it is the term used by the Virgin in accepting her destiny as the mother of Christ

’Behold the Handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to Thy Word’. Submission without question ( though that was in a nobler cause, and to a higher Being).

Same. I don’t know anyone else who uses it.
It reminds me of George w Bush 🤣

Even among US West Coast progressives, this is not a thing (in real life, at least) -- it's an extreme minority view typically seen in certain online spaces.

"People" is used without any problem and virtually no one would claim it's linked to white supremacy in real-life interactions.

Yes, folk is woke

If I remember correctly, Dubya once referred to terrorists as 'those folks who are setting off bombs' or words to that effect.

Yes! Glad it’s not just me who thinks of that!

I find it cringey when someone says it to avoid saying other words. Americans seem to get away with it it seems more natural when they use it?!

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen thank you, that's interesting.