[ceejayoz]

> The term boy is actually very common in uniformed occupations (military, police, etc).

How about the tech industry? When's the last time you got called a boy? I'd be baffled to be called a boy by someone I didn't know.

> Depending on the context using "women" implies a level of formality and abstraction that some could find more offensive.

I suspect you'd have a hard time finding someone who'd have been offended by replacing "girl" with "woman" in the original post.