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Is "female" offensive? (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I am not a native English speaker and I have sometimes referred to people as male and female (as that is what I have been taught) but I have received some backlash in some cases, especially for the word "female", is there some negative thought in the word which I am unaware of?

I don't know if this is the best place to ask, if it's not appropriate I have no problem to delete it ^^

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"I had coffee with one of the males at work"

"There's a male waiting for you downstairs"

"I need to see a male about a dog"

All of them would be weird as fuck, and yes, they'd sound demeaning. They don't have the same weird-incel vibe, but that's just an accident of culture.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Right. This is the best way to figure out if it sounds weird.

If you would use "man" then the word to use is "woman". If you would use "male" then "female".

So if someone asks is the doctor male or female? No problem. Even if they ask "is the doctor a male or a female?" Still no problem. Kinda odd but certainly not offensive.

The problem arises when someone says "men and females" that does sound weird and kinda insulting. As would "women and males".

If you would use the word man, use woman.

If you would use the word male, use female.