this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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I am not a native English speaker and I have sometimes referred to people as male and female (as that is what I have been taught) but I have received some backlash in some cases, especially for the word "female", is there some negative thought in the word which I am unaware of?

I don't know if this is the best place to ask, if it's not appropriate I have no problem to delete it ^^

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[โ€“] TGhost@lemmy.ml 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (7 children)

For me, As non native English speaker too, its aggressive .

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[โ€“] gramie@lemmy.ca 6 points 9 months ago (4 children)

One place where it makes sense to use the word female as a noun is when an individual word like "woman" doesn't work. For instance, if there are girls and women together, neither "women" nor "girls" is appropriate. In that case, I think "female" is the only option. I'd be happy to hear if anyone has an alternative.

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[โ€“] Mandy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

im a female. im offensive. does that count?

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[โ€“] Lath@kbin.earth 5 points 9 months ago

Anything can be offensive in the corresponding context.

I mean, I didn't know "orange" could be offensive, but then Trump showed up.

[โ€“] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 4 points 9 months ago

It's dehumanizing. Use woman, girl, person.

[โ€“] intensely_human@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago

Everything is offensive to someone.

[โ€“] deathbird@mander.xyz 4 points 9 months ago

Saying 'female' to refer to a person who is female can sound overly technical or abstracted, and therefore a bit dehumanizing or depersonalizing.

That said, some people over-react, and sometimes it is more appropriate or at least fine to say 'female', for example if you were speaking in the abstract about something that spans between women and girls, or is specifically about biological sex.

But most of the time 'women' or 'girls' or even 'ladies' is going to be more appropriate.

What language are you coming from, out of curiosity?

[โ€“] AverageKiwi@lemmy.nz 3 points 9 months ago

The basic rule of thumb is that anyone who gets upset with you using the word female isn't worth your time. If they're really going to get upset about you using the word female then they're probably going to get upset about a lot of other trivial things as well and that's not the sort of negativity and bitterness you want in your life.

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