[biot]

I'm not saying it's appropriate; just offering a possible explanation for the use of the word. Personally, I'd just go with "female" or simply saying "she's a software engineer" gets the point across well without having to delve into sex vs. gender identity etc.

[erroneousfunk]

You certainly seemed ready to defend lev_k. Someone makes a ridiculous comment like "Maybe 'scientists who are girls' would be more befitting?" (I thought that was hilarious until I realized they weren't joking) mcv calls him out, and then you jump in and explain why "girls" is okay to use here?

Again, it's not. It's really really not. Outside of pop song lyrics and college parties "girl" is not the opposite of "guy." And if you don't understand the connotations/subtle unspoken irony when a middle aged woman says "she's going out with The Girls" (and, yeah, my white-haired grandmother still says this -- she's less serious and more vocal about the phrase every year) you probably shouldn't be using the word at all when you're referring to anyone over the age of 12.

So, okay, great, you said you wouldn't actually use it. But why were you defending it, or... trying to come up with an explanation and using your 50 year old female friend as a rationalization? I don't get it.

[biot]

You're making many false assumptions about my motivations, then proceeding to tear them down. As I'm not really interested in debating strawwomen, I wish you the best.