I Am Woman

Why, especially when we're talking to kids, do we refer to adult males as "men" and adult females as "ladies"? Isn't it meant to be ladies and gentlemen, and women and men?

Very early on, I decided to even things out, and started referring to women as women, not ladies, when speaking with MissM. But the problem is, "Give the ticket to the woman" sounds sort of harsh and strange compared with, "Give the ticket to the lady" -- especially when we are directly communicating with the woman in question. Similarly, "Give the ticket to the gentleman" sounds silly and pooncy, unless the man is a sweet little fluffy-haired 92 year old.

THIS BOTHERS ME, a lot. What century are we in again? Why is the need to pussyfoot around women and talk straight to men SO ingrained still in our society?

I will continue to refer to women as women and not "oh-so-delicate-and-feeble-you-must-speak-gently-ladies" and hopefully one day it'll stop feeling aggressive, and start feeling quite fine.

I challenge you, especially the parents, to try it out. Or at least start to feel funny about calling women "ladies".