I was sitting in the den, playing solitaire & drinking my coffee, as I do in the mornings. I was thinking about how annoying it is to be lumped in under a masculine collective noun (guys) as a woman. I started wondering why it's the default that women are hidden in a mixed-gender group. Duh, patriarchy. But language is what we make of it. I've been using a neutral collective noun (folks) for groups, but I'm still hearing guys all the time. I think I'll start using "ladies."

#language #feminism

I was sitting in the den, playing solitaire & drinking my coffee, as I do in the mornings. I was thinking about how annoying it is to be lumped in under a masculine collective noun (guys) as a woman. I started wondering why it's the default that women are hidden in a mixed-gender group. Duh, patriarchy. But language is what we make of it. I've been using a neutral collective noun (folks) for groups, but I'm still hearing guys all the time. I think I'll start using "ladies."

#language #feminism

@DejahEntendu I've been trying really hard to use non-gendered language like this. I like:

• citizens
• humans
• delicious friends
• foolish mortals

@DejahEntendu Back in the day @ghoulpus was selling a line of shirts that were all in women’s sizes and said “ladies is gender neutral” and when men asked about size conversions xe deadpan was “oh, maybe you have a girlfriend who can help you figure out your size” — really leaned into “what if men in tech were treated the way women and nonbinary folks are.” I hope it was a learning experience for some dudes.
For myself, 20 years in Texas means I’m comfortable using “y’all” to address a group.

I was sitting in the den, playing solitaire & drinking my coffee, as I do in the mornings. I was thinking about how annoying it is to be lumped in under a masculine collective noun (guys) as a woman. I started wondering why it's the default that women are hidden in a mixed-gender group. Duh, patriarchy. But language is what we make of it. I've been using a neutral collective noun (folks) for groups, but I'm still hearing guys all the time. I think I'll start using "ladies."

#language #feminism

@DejahEntendu I have been working very hard for years to use "folks", "y'all", or my native "yinz", but every so often a "guys" slips out to cover mixed company and I wince the instant it escapes my lips.

@pooserville @ghoulpus

Yep, y'all works too for neutral. But people just aren't hearing why I'm doing it or adjusting their own language. Time for something with a bigger impact.