• tiredofsametab@kbin.run
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    5 months ago

    This is interesting to me because, as a dude in his 40s, I grew up with adults (and even cartoons) saying ‘woman xxxx’ being the pejorative (i.e. damn woman drivers!). It’s been weird to seem to see this flip.

    • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      In addition to what the other reply to you said, I was talking specifically about “female” as a noun.

      “females like xyz” and so on.

      • SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social
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        5 months ago

        That’s true, but the OP’s and my experience is that the adjectival use, like “woman doctor,” was pejorative. I associate it with Greatest and Silent Generation relatives. We changed to say “female doctor,” as it sounded more neutral.

        Now, there’s a movement back, and lots of younger folks now say that the latter is demeaning, and that “woman doctor” is the respectful phrasing. I know it’s essentially arbitrary, and defined by usage, it’s just interesting to see the evolution.

    • derfunkatron@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I think the difference is that one case is a collective noun and the other is a fallacy.

      Contrast with using females as a collective noun which can been seen as reductive or offensive on its own without the fallacious logic.

    • Maeve@kbin.earth
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      4 months ago

      Lol! I forget I’m older. That may also contribute to my comfortability with it!