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submitted 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) by Nero@sopuli.xyz to c/theonion@midwest.social
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[-] workerONE@lemmy.world 94 points 6 months ago

“It is unfair how I am treated,” he said, “the moment I see a female and say ‘hello there female’ they always leave after saying something. I don’t know what they said because I wasn’t listening but they are being very rude.”

“I don’t understand what it is that makes women seem uncomfortable around me... likely they are just intimidated to be in the presence of a real alpha man like me. I don’t blame them for that.”

[-] soloner@lemmy.world 42 points 6 months ago

I know you're joking but that last paragraph made me throw up in my mouth a little bit

[-] A_Very_Big_Fan@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

It's not really a joke, that's just two paragraphs from the article copy/pasted.

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[-] NutWrench@lemmy.world 62 points 6 months ago
[-] Daxtron2@startrek.website 10 points 6 months ago

hyoomahn feeemales

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[-] frickineh@lemmy.world 49 points 6 months ago

Wait, where's the part where he calls a woman a *fat whore who can keep chasing Chad but she better not come crying to him when she turns 30 and hits the wall?

*about 75% of this is just a reworded comment I saw today on an article about dating in my city.

[-] Jank@literature.cafe 18 points 6 months ago

Of course. They're pronouncing it wrong.

Gotta gotta rhyme with tamales.

[-] Psythik@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago

I don't understand. My girlfriend calls women "females".

So long as you're not using it in a disrespectful way, there's no reason why women can't be called what they are. What's next? Getting upset because I call it a vagina instead of a "pussy"?

[-] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 21 points 6 months ago

I've never read any internet comment using “female” as a noun for human women that wasn't problematic.

[-] tiredofsametab@kbin.run 10 points 6 months ago

This is interesting to me because, as a dude in his 40s, I grew up with adults (and even cartoons) saying 'woman xxxx' being the pejorative (i.e. damn woman drivers!). It's been weird to seem to see this flip.

[-] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 10 points 6 months ago

In addition to what the other reply to you said, I was talking specifically about “female” as a noun.

“females like xyz” and so on.

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[-] DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's generally the difference between using it as a descriptor, and a noun. Noun bad.

Compare "I really like watching the female football game" and "I really like watching the women's football game"
"Female" isn't trans-inclusive, but people aren't going to look at you weird either way you say it.

Now compare that to:
"I really like watching the females play football." and "I really like watching the women play football."
"Females" here makes you sound like you're getting sexual gratification from watching the players, or that you see them as nothing more than a vagina, "women" sounds like you might like the game.

[-] jh29a 11 points 6 months ago

And/or it makes you sound like a zoologist

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[-] Aksamit@slrpnk.net 15 points 6 months ago

Those guys are the rapiest ones. It's disingenuous to act like the types of men who call women 'females' aren't the same guys who neg, space invade and spike drinks.

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[-] humbletightband@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 6 months ago

In my native language it's highly offensive to call a woman a female. Didn't know that's the thing in English.

At the same time we call children "human larve" and everyone is ok with that

[-] jadedwench@lemmy.world 17 points 6 months ago

It really really rubs most of us the wrong way. Yet, for whatever reason, stupid men are taught that it is ok to call us "females". It is like we are corpses. Things. Not even people.

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[-] fiercekitten@lemm.ee 15 points 6 months ago

I don't understand why "gal" isn't used more. It's "woman"s single-syllable sister and also isn't infantilizing like using "girl" can be.

[-] Aganim@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

Still waiting for 'broad' to become fashionable again..

[-] lath@lemmy.world 25 points 6 months ago

In my memory, the term was not used kindly even during its peak.

[-] fiercekitten@lemm.ee 12 points 6 months ago
[-] NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

I only ever hear gals use it, usually in group settings. It really is a shame. It just feels dated for whatever reason in other contexts, I guess.

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[-] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 13 points 6 months ago

Image of the introductory coursework for people wanting to learn English.

It's crazy how the eldritch amalgamation that is the English language can have zero rules, yet a dozen unwritten ones of what you can and can't say. Good luck threading the needle if you aren't up to date with the latest cultural evolution in America. Add on top that the kids keep inventing sentences worth of new acronyms.

I get what group of people the article is poking fun at, one of them is on proud display in the comment section. Though I still feel people should have a better understanding that as the Internet's lingua franca you'll encounter people from a wide range of backgrounds, and their grasp of the language and culture will vary.

[-] Gustephan@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

I can certainly see it being a struggle for non native English speakers or English speakers from other cultures. Referring to women as females is one of those things thats accurate according to the language, but a lot of bigots have figured out that they can use common words as slurs and people are slower to catch on. Female is unfortunately one of those words; it evokes big "I see you as livestock" energy

[-] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Yeah. I think a fair few people misunderstand the intent of my comment. I agree that the connotation of "female" makes it a word one should be conscious about its usage.

I was strictly speaking of how non native speakers of English may struggle with keeping up with what's socially correct English according to the wider Internet culture.

[-] Syrc@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

This, so much. In my language, even as little kids, they called us “males and females”, very rarely “boys and girls”.

Native speakers need to understand that not everyone knows all the connotations that come from every english word. Especially considering some of them are vastly different based on whether it’s used in USA, UK or Australia.

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[-] joel_feila@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

What are you talking about

[-] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 8 points 6 months ago

I feel like the last paragraph made it pretty clear? Most people on the internet doesn't have English as their native language, expecting all those people to understand the constantly shifting connotation of every word feels rather ignorant/ethnocentric.

[-] joel_feila@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

But every language has a constant changing lexicon and a difference between offical and actually used.

[-] UndercoverUlrikHD@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago

English certainly feels like a lot more fast moving than Norwegian, can't really speak for other languages. That wasn't even really my point though

My point is that a lot of people seems to have rather strong feelings about something that can often simply be an honest mistake from someone who may not even be fluent in English, let alone understanding the finer nuances of the words

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[-] CraigeryTheKid@lemm.ee 12 points 6 months ago

Ok I will totally admit that, especially when during DEI discussions or other similar meetings, when my brain is about to say "woman" I can freak out and over-correct and I have absolutely said "females".

I used to say "boys and girls", even my female wife says "girls" is fine, but 1 time in 2009 I got yelled at for using "girls" and I have never recovered.

[-] protist@mander.xyz 20 points 6 months ago

Saying something that may be perceived as offensive and then later realizing you probably should have said it differently is totally different from saying the same thing unabashedly with zero self-awareness

[-] Aksamit@slrpnk.net 12 points 6 months ago

Why can't you say 'woman' when refering to a woman?

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[-] flerp@lemm.ee 8 points 6 months ago

Hahahuaha jokes on them, they don't know I have a cat so I am sharing a chair with a female at this exact moment in time!

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[-] Maeve@kbin.earth 8 points 6 months ago

I say females and am one. Title has me wondering if it's from hearing it so frequently.

[-] LilaOrchidee@slrpnk.net 18 points 6 months ago

unless it's used as an adjective it definitely sounds like an incel or a ferenghi is speaking

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[-] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

I have such a weird take on this, due to being in the military for so long. We absolutely do refer to one another as "males" and "females".

Ie. "There was a female SSgt that was really helpful in customer service" or "I had to remind a male Soldier to put on his cover when he left the building" or "I had a female troop once".

However, I try really hard when I'm speaking to a non-military member to switch up my phrasing. Sometimes I still slip up, and I gotta be like "shit, sorry, I mean that woman cashier over there" or whatever it is that I'm talking about.

I will say though, I do distinctly remember having that conversation during basic training, and fucking hating being referred to as "female" in the beginning, and that thought being shared amongst my flightmates. I can still hear the TIs shouting from across the parking lot: "GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW, FE-MALE!" Ugh.

It was just 16 years ago now, so "female" has become normalized.

[-] hakobo@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

In your first examples, you are using female as an adjective. A female troop, a female Sargent, a male soldier. That's usually fine. Even "that female cashier over there" is probably fine. However if you say "that female over there" or like you pointed out, "get over here right now, female" or really any other instance where female is used as a noun instead of an adjective, that's where it becomes gross. It's all about adjective vs noun. Adjective: usually fine. Noun: usually not.

[-] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Yeah after I posted the comment, I was reading through other people's, and someone pointed this exact difference out. This take makes full sense to me!!!

[-] drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Some of the guys I know seem to use it because they think it's a more PC way of saying it. One of them is married with kids who he has a good relationship with.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

a real alpha man like me

ICING ON TOP.

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this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2024
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