"When girls are 'guys'"
ROSE Blog: Rikki's Open Source Exchange
Our editor in chief, Joe Casad, and I once had a heated discussion about using he/she, he, she, or 'they' when we were referring to a singular gender-neutral person. I thought that if the article's author is male, we should use he, and if the article author is female, we'd use she. Joe thought that we should use they, even though it's technically plural, because they is now commonly accepted as gender-neutral and singular.
Finally, we agreed that we'd use "they" until the English language miraculously resolves this gender issue, but I put my foot down on ending sentences with prepositions. I don't care how acceptable that has become, it still makes me cringe when I see it in print.
Jan Freeman wrote a piece called "When girls are 'guys': News from the battle over you, plural" for Boston.com. The article is about using the term "guys" when addressing a mix of men and women. Frankly, it doesn't bother me and I'll happily accept "guys" as a gender-neutral term. "Guys" is just a friendly, welcoming, casual word that makes me think of potato chips, and what's not to like about that?
Of course, I don't speak for all the women/ladies/chicks/girls out there. I know plenty of women who hate being called girls, whereas being called a woman is less appealing to me than being called a girl. (Maybe it's because my daughter calls me "woman" instead of "Mom" when she's mad at me... )
Using "guys" might not be the perfect solution, but I think it's a much better option than the more inclusive "guys and gals." Any other suggestions?
Comments
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4
Mix it up
Guys and Gals
'She' is the feminine form of the pronoun. 'He' is both the masculine and the unmarked gender form of the pronoun. If you know the subject is feminine you should use 'She', all other cases 'He'.
Having said that words change in useage and we can no longer say 'Fräulein' and I suppose the English equivalent 'Miss' will be dropped soon. I cannot see the French dropping 'Mademoiselle', or the Italians dropping 'Signorina' as they are always said with love. All were meant to be a compliment.
Now we are all Frau and Ms.
"Hey you guys"