To put you in the right frame of mind I'll describe the female that is pictured above. A young woman who sings. A female that serves as a role model to young girls all around the word. (We're not going to mention her husband snatching ways, although I just did) Was there anything wrong with my description?Here is the question I posed on twitter: Ladies, is it wrong to refer to you all as females?
I asked that question because one of my twitter homettes by the name @judinestG said "im tired of that shit. female is not directly synonymous to woman." She was referring to Kanye saying females and not women. Hmmm. That was the second time in a matter of days that someone had said something similar of that nature. I asked myself "When the fuck did saying females become such a negative thing?" Or even if it's not negative, why should another man have to deal with an effect that is similar to him calling a female a bitch, hoe, skeezer, slut, or any other derogatory word.
Look, I understand that in all facets of life the woman/female is subjected to negative onslaughts, numerous unfavorable and misogynistic portrayals, but is referring to you all as females another cry out for females' rights? Should I be given this face >>>-_-<<< every single time I say female when talking about a woman. To my understanding it would be different if I said "This bitch just walked in for the interview." Is it different than saying "A female just walked in for the interview" or "A woman just walked in for the interview." Which then leads me to talk about context.
One of my twitter homette's points was that it was always followed by something negative. Okay. I get that. I can definitely see someone saying "Females are trifling" or "females are bitches" or "females stay scheming." So would it be better if I said "Women are trifling" or "Women are bitches" or "women stay scheming"? I just substituted that shit in. It made no difference to me. I've seen females refer to themselves, as they described themselves, as young black females making it big in the world. Or they can say, young black women. I just don't see what's wrong with it. Is it because I'm not a female?
So while I was in this twitter discussion with her and my other twitter homette @C_J_Iwuoha I learned some things about how females might see that word but I'm still left with the feeling that it's a reach. Females are women and women are females. You're a female before you become a woman. You'lll always remain a female as well. I'm a male. I'm a man. I'm a young black male. I'm a young black man. I'm just saying though.
So I just want you all to react. Let me know what the deal is. I want males, men, females, women to comment and give me your opinion on the question that remains: Is It Wrong To Say Female?
Note: I did a quick search in my iTunes. Females Vs. Woman/en. Only 5 songs showed up when I inserted female. 120 showed up with woman/en. That's something to think about too. I'll leave you with this great song that I helped perform while I was in elementary school.
Whitney Houston-I'm Every Woman (Female)
14 comments:
Whenever I hear female used the sentence usually goes like this. " This female (insert bad comments here). In my mind they replaced broad or b**** with female and thought that that made the insult that followed better. So I am with your twitter homette on that.
Saying this female just walked in for an interview is awkward. Its either a young woman, young lady or woman.
I think that some people see female as a characteristic used for classification (are you male or female) for surveys while woman is a status that you reach after maturing and learning. Calling a woman a female in that framework would be an insult. Ex: someone who is a judge, loving mother, good wife, and philanthropist deserves to be called a woman. You would reduce her achievements by saying female... individual with certain reproductive structures a.k.a. opposite of man.
That's all that I got.
"Females are women and women are females." The issue is semantics. I don't see anything wrong with using the term "females." As my man iGoon states, the words mean the same thing. The issue is that some women feel that the connotation of "female" somehow doesn't distinguish them in as far as accomplishments in life go. "Woman" or "Women" implies a certain amount of maturity and/or respect and "female" strips a lady of that. I think it's similar to a "Dr. Joseph" being referred as, "Mr. Joseph," and then getting annoyed by a lack of his "title" being included.
It's a bit ridiculous to me. One shouldn't HAVE to extend themselves to show extra respect in situations that don't merit it. Personally, absence of respect (i.e. - calling a woman a female) doesn't equate to disrespect.
I gotta rock with the iGoon on this joint, it's a reach.
i applaud you on this article sir. i feel that in the context of "female", it has been used more often than not when speaking about a bad experience, BUT i cannot say that it is wrong to refer to women, girls, etc. as females because the te...rm describes them as they are without any connotation of being a) a bitch, b) a whore, c) trifling in any way. why can't i simply speak on an experience without being corrected every two secs when said "person" who happens to be female (lol) happens to be acting a fool? now if i went around substituting female for bitch then we'd be back where we were years ago with "not all women are bitches". we got it. many of you are not. there are moments, but that's just being bitchy. the term "female" in itself carries no stigma, only the ones we carry in our hearts and minds. let's respect each other and keep it movin'.
it's pretty simple to me... it's only negative if you use it negatively... "dumb ass female," "hard working, intelligent female"... I think we're just not used to hearing it that often so it sounds a little weird, yeah, but it doesn't mean automatically take offense to the statement.
** "hard working, intelligent female" was the example of a positive use of female lol
I am actually taking a class on gender and society and we talk about the use of female and woman.Those who commented above are right. The context that female is used in is important. Not every female is a woman though because technically being a women means that you are behaving according to the norms of society for that particular sex.
i prefer to be called mammal
@Margaux just killed me . lmao
I agree with Wife and the last bit of Chunk's statement...folks def use female to strip a WOMAN or LADY of her "title" and to lessen the blow of a derogatory statement. However the word "female" in itself is not a BAD word (duh) and yes some people take the offense way too far, because at the end of the day you are what you are.
Now, just gotta correct Chunk's opening statement because this is what set him down the wrong path: "females are women and women are females". Not quite. Dare I remind you: "all elephants are mammals, but not all mammals are elephants." Think about it.
O.
lol @ margaux
@Wife-Although saying female may be awkward in some settings it still is correct and should not be thought of as negative. I also disagree with the idea that it reduces her achievements if you call that judge a female and not a woman. She is what she is. And that's a female.
@Chunk-Gotta love your comment man.
@d_observer-I love how you ended that joint. Let's respect each other and keep it moving. I agree that it doesn't have the same meaning as bitch. We're not substituting anything out here. Just telling it like it is.
@Alysa-That explanation is blunt. I like it.
@Ness-Context is very important. The norms of society are very important as well as to what a woman is but I'm not going into that.
@Margaux-Funny. But with your educational background that I know pretty well I was hoping you set aside your comical remarks and enlighten us.
@Zella-We're not talking about mammals and elephants though. We're talking about females. I feel as if my intentions of using female isnt to strip anyone of anything. I guess it all adepends on the user. Case by case basis.
Nice comments so far!
Noun Definition of FEMALE
1 a : a female person : a woman or a girl
b : an individual that bears young or produces large usually immobile gametes (as eggs) that are fertilized by small usually motile gametes of a male
Noun Definition of WOMAN
1a : an adult female person
b : a woman belonging to a particular category (as by birth, residence, membership, or occupation) —usually used in combination
I thought it would be interesting to post both the definitions of the noun forms of female and women. As you can see, they are pretty much synonymous except for the fact that woman more specifically refers to an adult female, whereas female is synonymous to both woman and girl.
Hence, I don't see what the big issue is and I have to agree with my bro Ricky here. I tend to use both words interchangeable when referring to the opposite sex, whether it be in a positive or negative context. Sometimes I say "I love that women" or "I love that female". Or I can switch it up to the negative context and say something like "That female is crazy!" or "That woman is crazy!". I honestly see no difference. Whatever word pops out of my mouth is simply out of coincidence. These two particular words are in no way complex. To play devil's advocate, saying that the usage of the noun or adjective form female tends to find itself in a negative context is absurd and excessive. Let's not add an extra meaning to the word if it obviously does not apply.
Words only have as much force as we give them. No word is inherently "offensive" unless we choose to assign a negative value to it via historical context, pop culture, colloquial ussage, etc. Honestly, pair any word w the wrong tone, adjective and ignorance and it could go from a negative to a positive. So, no, I'm not automatically offended when someone calls me a "female" because by definition (thanks, figz) it's true.
@Z.ella: Note that my "opening statement" was in fact a quote of iGoon's original post. I didn't use it to "set me down the wrong path" (which I would like you to clarify), I used it to set the context from which I was approaching the issue.
I thought it was obvious that we were talking about female humans and not female elephants or monkeys, so I challenge you to reconsider your statements within the context of this discussion.
Shouts to the boy (man, male, whatever) Figz for posting the definitions of Female and Woman and proving that the two are in fact synonymous.
At the end of the day, to quote d_observer, "let's respect each other and keep it movin."
We're all intelligent people who can distinguish when a word is meant to be used in a derogatory fashion. Let's not add disrespect where none is intended.
and to totally discredit what we've all said..
How would a black MAN feel if he walked into the south and was called a "BOY" by a white man? Words do carry weight, but context sometimes means more than the word itself.
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