UNFORTUNATELY, WOMEN are culturally known by all sorts of mostly unacceptable, cutesy nicknames, such as "chick," "broad" and "dame." There are even a few that are unprintable, including the dreaded and peculiarly offensive B-word.
I've never been comfortable with those words, all of which seem demeaning to women, an attempt to make them into sex objects. The B-word has always made the hair rise on the back of my neck.Back in the 1960s, most of these words became culturally unacceptable by the decree of the women's movement. With the emphasis on equality of the sexes, even the words "girl" and "lady," as applied to an adult woman, were banned from a politically correct society. While "lady" was commonly used by both sexes, it implied class structure, petticoats and Emily Post.
As a result, "woman" became the only acceptable alternative. That seemed just fine to some, except there was nothing casual or relaxed to denote the female gender. That put those people who depend on slang and casual speech in a bind.
Beginning in the '60s, even the word "gal," a slang word for "girl," became unacceptable. No longer.
In a recent New York Times article, Natalie Angier suggested "gal" is making a comeback. She cited its use 70 times in the New York Times this year. That, she said, is roughly double the usage of the word six years ago. In the Washington Post, "gal" was used 85 times compared with only 58 times in 1989.
Although newspapers do not decree what is verbally acceptable, they often reflect the kinds of things most often said by real men and women. The use of "gal," therefore, may indicate a trend.
In the meantime, I've also noticed that "chick," "broad" and "dame" have also been thrust back into acceptability. Horror of horrors, even respectable, thoughtful women have called themselves "chicks," as if to suggest the word is fashionable to both sexes.
I don't believe the common use of "girl" to refer to a grown woman has ever completely left our society. It is most often used by the executive male with his female employees, as in, "Please stop and make an appointment with the girl on the way out."
None of these executives would ever be so insensitive as to refer to other male executives as "boys." Yet they don't know why anyone would think it demeaning to refer to adult women as "girls."
All men should ask themselves by what slang term they would be prefer to be called.
Recently, I've been in the locker room of my local spa when various male members of local high school swim teams are leaving or arriving. Invariably, I hear these young men using the disgusting B-word to refer to young women, and I cringe.
Regardless of all the efforts intended to raise the consciousness of society, all the old words seem to be with us again. Even though some trendy, younger women are arguing that "gal" should be used with impunity as a "sexy subject instead of a sexy object," I still think it falls short.
I also insist on purging my vocabulary of "chick," "broad," "dame," the dreaded B-word and even the silly, yet pervasive "girl" as applied to adult women. As relaxed as any of these words may sound, they are too relaxed for me.
Women should not be placed on a pedestal, because that gives men the right to feign superiority while treating them with condescension. But we really ought to stop cultivating all those relaxed, casual and invariably offensive slang words for members of the female gender. Instead, we should call them by the only word that captures their equal, rightful place in society - women.