Apropos of this thread, which made me think of something I hadn’t thought about in awhile:
Does anyone else find the term “coed” (used as a noun to describe a female college student) to be sexist and condescending, or is it just me being overly sensitive?
To me, that term has always conjured up the kind of easy “wink wink nudge nudge” male chauvinism that was much more accepted in the '60s and '70s than it is today. It’s a demeaning term that implies that women in college are somehow “different” or to be singled out. Why can’t they just be called “female college students” or “college women” if their gender is important, or simply “college students,” if it isn’t?
Someone let me know that I’m not alone in my hatred of this term, please!
I agree. I don’t really find the word offensive, but it makes me think of pony-tailed blonde girls in short skirts, long socks and sorority sweaters - this archetypical image of a “college girl” that doesn’t even exist anymore.
The word also gets used a lot in porn, so I think it’s picked up kind of a sleazy connotation.
The term seems inappropriate unless used to describe a movie that can be found behind the curtain at a independent video store or ordered from late night TV - “Hot College Coeds!!”
Other than that, it’s way out of date in my opinion. I don’t understand why anyone would use it to describe actual, real, non-nude, female college students.
Its origins stem from when women in college were a rarity, so that aspect of it is out of date. However, it does not have any intrinsic derogatory meaning, any more than “woman” does because it originated from the notion of “wife to a man.” The alternatives for when gender reference is desired - “female college students” or “college women” - are long and clunky compared to “coeds.” Human nature being what it is, people are inclined to use the short easy-to-say option. Unless you can convince them that it offends you so much that they shouldn’t.
Who still uses this? It’s about a thousand years out of date. At my school it was used in the manner ‘coed dorms’ meaning. . . co-ed, and the only people who used it to mean “wimmin” were the more ancient male professors, and whenever they used it it was anywhere ranging from vaguely to utterly condescending: “A coed was sitting in my class one day doing her nails and looking for a husband. . .”
Why is “college men” not too wordy? How do you refer to male college students?
I keep trying to read this post, but I keep losing my train of thought somewhere between pony-tailed and sweaters. Maybe I’ll try again when I’m feeling better.
I think many years ago it just meant “college student (female)” but the only place I’ve heard it used for years is porn, which is kinda indicative that the term no longer has much currency outside porn.
This usage grates on my last nerve. I can’t help but preceding it with “doe-eyed” in my mind. Outside of a porn context, it’s actually pretty rare to need to refer only to female college students on a coeducational campus. I’m grateful for that, because the word is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Sure, you could say “three coeds organized the blood drive,” but there’s usually no need to point out that they are female. Maybe “public safety is providing rape whistles to coeds” would make sense? But I still don’t think that’s what most people would say, unless they went to school back when women on campus were a novelty.
Note that the term wouldn’t be correct for female college students at a single-sex college, because that is not a coeducational institution.
It’s incredibly outdated, but whether it’s condescending would depend on the context. My college has been co-ed for about 150 years now, so it’s about time we got rid of the term, yes?
It’s insanely outdated, and I’d be rather offended if someone referred to me that way. If there’s a legitimate reason to point out that a college student is female such as Harriet the Spry’s example, then there’s no reason not to just say “Public safety is providing rape whistles to female students.” Same meaning, less derogatory baggage.
“Coed” still has a valid use to mean “both men and women.” I can’t think of any other word that remotely fits – “bisexual,” maybe? For an example of the use I’m talking about, see here.
Of course, on edit, I notice the OP said “the noun ‘coed.’” I will slink away unnoticed.
I guess it’s an unspoken awareness already, but doesn’t it stem from when there used to be dorms, or even colleges, that were either all male or all female, and the rarity was a “co-educational” college which catered for both genders? So female students became known as “co-eds”. Right?
Perhaps…but that underscores why it’s patronizing. A male student in the 1950s walking across the Rutgers quad would be a “student.” A female doing the same would be called a “coed.” He’s a student. She’s a novelty.
These days, both would be “students.”
I also find it patronizing, but it’s so rarely used anymore. If some very old person called female students “coeds,” I wouldn’t think anything of it. If a younger person used it, I’d wonder if it meant that they felt that female college students were still somehow a novelty.
As an adjective, it’s a perfectly good word, used to describe a college, dorm, etc. that has people of both sexes.
As a noun, it’s incredibly old-fashioned, dating back to the days when many schools weren’t co-ed, or had just started admitting women (who were, then, the “co-eds”). Anybody who uses the word nowadays is being either ironic or patronizing or obtuse.
Researcher/professor in higher education checking in here:
Adjective: as many have stated, perfectly acceptable, as there are still single-sex colleges, residence halls, etc.
Noun: hopelessly out-of-date, essentially the domain of dirty joke books from the 1960s and 1970s. I hate the word also, partly because of the sexist intent, but also because it looks like “code” to me. “Co-ed” makes me pause and say it correctly. But, yes, ick.
On an episode of Veronica Mars once, Veronica said something like, “Let’s go find that coed”. The character is supposed to be around 19, while the actress is somewhat older. Still, it stuck out like a sticking out thing. No one that age talks like that. Hell, I’m 31 and I don’t think I’ve heard anyone my age talk like that either.
