re: woman, girl, whatever

[arethinn]

dancinglights brought up the term "lady" and its uses, and I made a remark myself in a comment to someone else about how I thought maybe people just used my name rather than a generic term if they needed to refer to me, but it actually does make me curious what word or words other people might use for me. Out of the following choices I think I would mostly use "girl" for myself (although as mentioned, I think I may be growing out of it). You?

[Poll #981789]

Comments

[tyrsalvia.livejournal.com]

I'd probably just say "my friend Tass" rather than refer to your gender as a personhood-describing noun.

I have this same problem. "Woman" brings up images of very normal looking female people who are at least five years older than I am. I think the normality is a big part of it - someone who is kind of a subculture freak does not read as "woman" to me because "woman" is always foreign, other, like a teacher when I'm a little kid.

I am used to being "girl" and so I would still likely call my female friends who are weirdos and around my age "girls" because that's the category for people more like me. Does that make sense?

I totally don't think of myself as a woman. I think of myself as genderqueer, a girl, a person, and sometimes I identify with "women" in the greater plural sense, but never in the singular sense.

I'm kinda weird like that, though.

[starlightforest.livejournal.com]

I'm a-hearin' you on FM. Your description of "...because that's the word I use for 'people more like me'" makes a lot of sense. (OTOH, there must be some age component, because I think of m0usegrrl, for example, as a woman, whereas if not "friend" or "person", I would similarly use "girl" for you as you do for yourself and might for me.) I don't think I would use the word "woman" for you either, except in that general sense you mention that the plural "women" does include you.

It's weird how these applications of terms to people happen when we're not looking...