[LockeWatts]

I mean, while technically true, the interoperability between the gendered nouns isn't complete.

Man / Woman

Boy / Girl

Guy / ???

Some people would say ??? = Gal, but most would find that very informal, especially when writing. The usual female equivalent to guy is girl, which is not referring to a younger age but merely a less formal sex descriptor.

Secondly, I STILL don't see how that changes the point any. If the guy is talking about girls, it makes sense, if he's talking about about women, it doesn't? I'm still lost there.

[hluska]

Those are really excellent points and I think you're right. Thanks for taking the time to explain that to me!

[lutusp]

> I STILL don't see how that changes the point any.

Okay, fair enough. Nest time you see a black man over 20 and under 50 years of age, try calling him "boy". See how he reacts. But before you do, write that last will and testament you've been meaning to finish.

[kiiski]

I think the question was, why does changing "girl" to "woman" make it sexist by definition?

[lutusp]

Yes, and I answered that question by example -- diminutive terms are looked on as tools of oppression.

Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-300040/Are-woman-g...

Quote: "This week feminist writer Bonnie Greer wrote that it was an insult to call a woman a girl, sparking a fierce debate."

Even if you reject the thesis, you need to know it exists.

[meisterbrendan]

This girl on girl/woman on woman semantics you are calling out is unnecessary and distracting--even an uncharitable reader would have a hard time ferreting out sexism in the parent comment.

And by the way: your insinuation that a black man would automatically kill/cause bodily harm someone who says something racist to him is in and of itself racist and is far more perverse than anything else I've read on this thread by a very, very wide margin.

[lutusp]

> And by the way: your insinuation that a black man would automatically kill/cause bodily harm someone ...

You locate where I said or implied this, and I will defend it.

"Fasten your seat belt."

"Are you implying that I'm an unsafe driver, or that I'm likely to get into a traffic accident?"

"Umm, no, I'm just offering some common-sense advice."

[lmartel]

Alright, defend it:

>Nest time you see a black man over 20 and under 50 years of age, try calling him "boy". See how he reacts. But before you do, write that last will and testament

Still can't see it? Yes you can.

>Next time you see a black man... try calling him "boy"... But before you [see how he reacts] write that last will and testament

Either your English is pretty limited (in which case, avoid getting into semantic arguments like 'woman' vs 'girl'), or you're being disingenuous. There is no universe in which that does not mean "because he will murder you." You say that he will need a last will and testament after the black man reacts. What the fuck else could that possibly mean.

The reason you're being picked on and downvoted in this comment thread, by the way, is because this kind of bullshit is a harmful distraction. There are plenty of serious issues to talk about in this thread. Horvath has revealed some toxic shit going on in a very popular, well-loved SV startup.

Using 'girl' instead of 'woman' for 'young female adult' is NOT one of these serious issues. As a young male in tech I know a lot of young females in tech; of the minority who actually give a shit about this petty nonsense, they all prefer 'girl' and feel uncomfortable with 'woman.'

EDIT: also, equating "fasten your seatbelt before driving" and "write a will before insulting a black man" as "common sense advice" is SUPER FUCKING RACIST

[lutusp]

> There is no universe in which that does not mean "because he will murder you."

Feel free to argue with yourself, with your own words, words I have never used nor implied.

> Using 'girl' instead of 'woman' for 'young female adult' is NOT one of these serious issues.

Learn current events, and don't assume your personal experiences can serve as a guide to reality.

http://www.wakemag.org/voices/i%E2%80%99m-a-woman-not-a-girl...

Is the above the "real truth"? No, of course not -- it's just as reliable an indicator of what people think as your view. The problem is that you have no conception that there's any view on this issue apart from your own.

> The reason you're being picked on and downvoted in this comment thread ...

Oh, I know the reason very well. It's well-established that downvoting inevitably follows the posting of a simple truth. The simpler the truth, the greater the number of downvotes.

Like this one.