Posted by:
Woman
(
)
Date: July 20, 2014 09:33PM
I sometimes wonder if I'm in the minority for having a viscerally negative reaction at the habitual use of this term when someone is talking about women.
I wish those in the habit of saying 'females' when talking about human beings would stop to think about how the words they choose communicate meaning and tone. Using 'females' when the individuals being spoken about are clearly women is sterile, detached and dehumanizing.
If one is referring to fruit flies or to subjects in a lab study, using technical terminology for gender is as appropriate for terms denoting species. But if the risk of species confusion is very low, I wish people would think more about using 'women' instead of 'females'. If one wishes to refer to those in pre-adolescence, adolescence and adulthood, 'girls and women' seems unobjectionable.
I've had more than my fill of being depersonalized and dehumanized by TSCC when I was in it. I've also had more than enough of the same in U.S. culture.