Unpopular Opinions Society

[KLS52]

You call them 'women'
Girls and boys are children.
No need to change past man or woman
I don't quite like 'lady' personally. I hear that Beastie Boys song-- Hey Lady!

Touché!

 

[KLS52]

It's funny because I often will refer to myself as "old" and it's usually if I'm having a not so good day, not feeling well or just feeling sorry for myself. But I guess it's like, I can say what I want about myself, I just don't want anyone else saying it or agreeing with me, lol.

 

[KLS52]

The real question is, why bring age into it at all? And that becomes a question of context.

For example, if I say that I saw an old man playing Frisbee in the park with his dog, that evokes a certain mental picture, while saying that I saw a boy playing Frisbee in the park evokes a different mental picture.

OTOH, if I said in a thread that FortyTwo is a young man, and that I'm giving him leeway because of that, that statement would be both (a) true, and (b) condescending. The same would be the case if I referred to Capstan as "old man."

That's because, in the context of a discussion board like this one, age isn't relevant unless one wishes to convey that someone needs to be excused as not quite fully competent because of lack of experienced/deteriorating facilities, or one just wants to be condescending for the heck of it.

Now, I for one don't mind being called old. I am old, after all. And if someone wants to do it to be condescending, that's fine with me also, since that reflects on the speaker, not on me.

This is very interesting to me. Initially, I didn't feel comfortable being open about my age. In the internet world, people form opinions about you based on conversations. And I know for myself, I even conjure up some kind of mental image of a person...and it's usually way off.

I think when you start to find out more personal information about people your opinion of them changes, which is kind of sad because they're basically the same person whether it turned out that they are , 20 years old, 40, 60, etc. But I think it's inevitable.

 

[AeryFairy]

Eh, you may want to try and explain that one! It might be that I just don't quite get the context? Was he trying to get someone's attention in order to make a sale? And therefore "hey, lady!" would be too direct?

The context was calling out to people to try to get their attention/make sales, yes. "Hey, lady!" is kind of impolite, it's similar to just yelling "Oi, you!".

 

[KLS52]

I would walk up to a sales person and simply say excuse me.

 

[beancounter]

I use 'girls' for myself and people my age on occasion... I refer to a certain group of female friends as "the girls" ("having lunch with the girls" etc.). But in a professional setting I'd definitely find it condescending, and I'd also probably find it quite patronising if someone much older than me referred to me as a girl, although that would depend on context.

For years, I've heard my wife refer to new female coworkers as "the new girl". I guess it's just ingrained into the culture.

 

[KLS52]

Sir, for a man, seems better than M'am for a woman.

 

[KLS52]

For years, I've heard my wife refer to new female coworkers as "the new girl". I guess it's just ingrained into the culture.

I was wondering if it was a generational thing. It's hard to overcome habits that you grew up with. I'm forever changing...one family member has commented that I am the most changed (aka liberal, lol) in the family. Not sure it was meant as a compliment, haha. I can't wait to see what I'll be like in 20 years!

I don't identify with liberal but I'm certainly less conservative than I was, say, even ten years ago. I guess I don't like labels in general. I'm just me.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I don't identify with liberal but I'm certainly less conservative than I was, say, even ten years ago. I guess I don't like labels in general. I'm just me.

It's usually the other way around. I think I'm more conservative than I used to be when I was younger, not on social issues, but economic. Less idealistic, maybe.

The terms liberal and conserative mean different things in the US to the UK, though.

 

[Mischief]

This is very interesting to me. Initially, I didn't feel comfortable being open about my age. In the internet world, people form opinions about you based on conversations. And I know for myself, I even conjure up some kind of mental image of a person...and it's usually way off.

I think when you start to find out more personal information about people your opinion of them changes, which is kind of sad because they're basically the same person whether it turned out that they are , 20 years old, 40, 60, etc. But I think it's inevitable.

Yes, it is interesting, how differently people react to you when they don't know any personal details. I have found that people react one way to me when they assume that I'm male (which is what people tend to assume about me online, until I give out info to the contrary), and quite another when they realize I'm female. Not everyone, but a significant portion.

 

[FortyTwo]

All I know is that I call people 'kid' regardless of their age, sometimes when they're 40+ years my senior. I think I picked it up from my mom but I'm not sure. One of these days it's going to get me into trouble, but it hasn't so far!