Poll of the Day > Is it a red flag when somebody uses the term "female"

(+) Yeah! (+)

Outside of like, medical doctors, it makes me cringe a bit inside

Its an accepted term in the English language with an objective meaning, despite the constant barrage of attempts as of late to diminish its meaning.

Yes

I wouldn't go as far as to say red flag, but it is off-putting.

Yes

Depends on the context.

In a context where a normal person would instead say "girl," "woman," "lady," or any other more colloquial term? I'd say so, unless it's being used ironically.

The only people I know who refer to women/girls as female (outside of clinic settings) are exactly the people who make others ask if using the term female is a red flag. So, yes.

yup

usually yes, occasionally it's fine depending on context

but often it'll come off incel-y

keyblader1985 posted...

I wouldn't go as far as to say red flag, but it is off-putting.

I feel like it's basically only said by socially inept people who can't communicate with women because they view them as another species rather than as human beings. It's an admission of low emotional intelligence

Blue_Thunder posted...

Depends on the context.

This.

Also depending on context, people being bothered by someone using the term "female" is itself a red flag.

Context (and intent) is always key.

Nope. Not a red flag for me at least. No different to saying woman, girl, lady and so on. Not only that but when discussing animals using the terms female or male is common and not at all a issue. These days people are just looking for things to get offended about it seems.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZMNiiS0WiM

I just recently used it in an email repeatedly when discussing the changing rooms at the fitness club I work at. I used male changing rooms and female changing rooms. Certainly hope that wasn't a red flag to someone.

No, wtf? Is it a red flag when somebody uses the term "male"

What? You need to be more specific as to what you are referring to then that.

I mean its weird when people just casually say it, especially repeatedly. Sounds less natural than saying girl/woman/lady/whatever.

No, there's nothing wrong with the term. Society has for whatever reason decided to attach negative connotations to it.

I admit I use the term "female" as a reflex when describing girls and women.

Side note: I feel consciously hesitant to use the term "girl" when describing a girl or woman because it implies the person has weakness or distress. Yes, I know, I'm weird....

Is there a gender neutral term for female we could use as an alternative? Maybe something like emale

Blightzkrieg posted...

Is there a gender neutral term for female we could use as an alternative? Maybe something like emale

That defeats the purpose, I think.

Not really sure I'm a fan of the number of males in this topic casually throwing out masc-normalized terminology

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/3/4/AAQwHjAADMku.jpg

I use female when needing to communicate some idea about women/girls/baby, unless there's some other term. doesn't come up often tho as you can imagine lol

Typical male responses

barenaked females is my favorite band

Its a cuss word

Using female without also using male, sure.

If it is unironically used as a noun, that is a massive red flag

Think I wanna go ahead and change my answer to yes. Specifically when used as a noun outside of medical/scientific context of course.

Um, am I missing something? That word has been around forever. There is nothing wrong with it. What the hell is wrong with people today?

Im not sensitive so no

Fierce_Deity_08 posted...

Um, am I missing something? That word has been around forever. There is nothing wrong with it. What the hell is wrong with people today?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/4/1/AAasTxAAEcYp.jpg

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


From someone like you, I'll wear any label proudly

obviously depends on context

but the people claiming that it can't be loaded are hilarious

i guess there are gross people that use it, but most of the time i'd say no.

I've heard people use the word female in a clinical way, but otherwise yeah.

Mostly used by either socially inept people or alpha male Tate cults who use the word female over and over to sound like professionals.

People obsessed with "red flags" are akin to students assigned to find the symbolism in classic literature and find it everywhere regardless of whether the author intended it, with the problem of that kind of thinking being a tad ridiculous when applied to the real world seriously.

Or more simply, people look for excuses to be offended.

Voxwik posted...

People obsessed with "red flags" are akin to students assigned to find the symbolism in classic literature and find it everywhere regardless of whether the author intended it, with the problem of that kind of thinking being a tad ridiculous when applied to the real world seriously.

Or more simply, people look for excuses to be offended.

YOU HAVE ZERO MEDIA LITERACY

Voxwik posted...

People obsessed with "red flags" are akin to students assigned to find the symbolism in classic literature and find it everywhere regardless of whether the author intended it, with the problem of that kind of thinking being a tad ridiculous when applied to the real world seriously.

Or more simply, people look for excuses to be offended.

We can't explain social nuance to people who don't understand it, on why someone asking "why are females not attracted to me" is a self-answering question. Because they sound like sheldon cooper.

Women like social aptitude. It means your man can navigate the world properly. If anything, the word "female" is useful a trap by society to catch these men and make them easier to spot. If you ain't a doctor, don't call women females. Yes, there are a thousand "dumb" rules socially awkward people can't follow. That's kind of the point.

Yellow posted...

If anything, the word "female" is useful a trap by society to catch these men and make them easier to spot.

I'd argue that it's less that using the word inappropriately is a useful identifier for socially awkward men and more that using the word inappropriately is itself part of being socially awkward. Calling people "females" in colloquial conversation already comes across as being weirdly clinical/formal for a casual interaction and makes the whole situation feel kind of awkward. You don't really need to treat it as a warning sign that you're dealing with somebody awkward because it is itself awkward.

It's in a similar vein to saying "Greetings, humans" instead of "Hi everyone." It's not wrong, speaking in terms of how those words are defined, but it is weird, and people are going to think you're weird if you say that as anything other than an ironic joke. Calling that a "red flag" might be exaggerating the issue a bit (with "females" in particular, it's associated with incel subculture due to that particular bit of weirdness being fairly common there, and that's not an association people typically like), but people are still likely to find it a bit off-putting.

I've got to call my cat a "girl cat" now?!

Fierce_Deity_08 posted...

Um, am I missing something? That word has been around forever. There is nothing wrong with it. What the hell is wrong with people today?

Yes, you are missing something.

If you use female in a scientific sense, that is fine.

If you use it as an adjective, like "female friends", that is also fine.

But NOT as a noun like "Will there be females at the party tonight?"

Also, "fembots" is right out.

During courtship it's important to emphasize attraction to female reproductive organs such as the labia and butt hole