# Girls: what's in a name **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 30, 1999, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669 "1999-12-30T04:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mikan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mikan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669/1 "1999-12-30T04:21:00Z")
In the interest of a new field of social science, which I hereby dub cybersociolinguistics, I would like to submit the following question to those who peruse and contribute to this nobelest of forums: what’s up with all the “Girls” on this message board? A few examples (these are off the top of my head, so sorry if some of them ain’t quite right): Girl Face, Moosie Girl, Girl Next Door, Office Girl, Bunny Girl, Glass Girl, neurotrashgrrrl. I don’t have any gripes about the individual names per se, which are as fine as any; I’m just curious about the trend. After all, you don’t see many (or any?) posters here with “Boy” in their username – no Little Boy Blue, no Sailor Boy, no Boy George (well, ok, there’s mangeorge, if he’s still around). There’s Guano Lad and Uncle Beer, but I don’t see a similar trend in the male names. I can imagine/speculate that some posters wanted to choose a name that makes it clear that they are female, and “Girl” of course accomplishes this. But there are plenty of other ways to suggest gender via one’s name – there’s Auntie Pam, Flora McFlimsey, PurpleCrackWhore. Falcon. So … why all the “Girls” here? Not too many years ago, it was all but a federal offense to refer to a grown woman as a (diminutive) “girl”, but is that changing, or what? Is “girl” no longer regarded as diminutive? “You go girl!” Huh? What? Just curious. OK, back to my more usual lurking … ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669/2 "1999-12-30T06:39:00Z")
To clarify my name, if you even care, I go by chick because it’s not absolutly accepted. Being in the technical field of computers, about only 10% (last I heard) in the higher technical computer field are women. I add in chick for no other reason than I am a chick…I am not a lady (I cuss too much,) I am not a girl (I have already been there) and I am stuck in the construction world (among other trades) of thinking. 'Spose I coulda chosen techwoman, but somehow I envision a woman dressed in a Wonder Woman type outfit with pointy boobs and able to tackle the world. Somehow this does not fit me. \< Wonder Woman…hoo hoo \> \<—terrible attempt at singing I am feminine in my own way, but somehow chick works for me best. BTW, I do have Flower in one of my AOL screen names and Wolf in one of my others… ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669/3 "1999-12-30T07:11:00Z")
I say thank god for the “girls”. I remember back in the old BBS days it was almost ALL men. I think that’s why I left it for a long time. It’s nice to know that it’s not just a bunch of us guys sitting around in here talking to each other. (note: You never saw **me** in the guy stuff thread,did you? Understood?) * * * “Teaching without words and work without doing are understood by very few.” -Tao Te Ching ---
**Author:** ![mikan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mikan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikan)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669/4 "1999-12-30T08:03:00Z")
Democritus: yes, me too. But I was talking about _names_ rather than the presence and participation of women/girls/chicks on the SDMB. (And damn my typing! Make that “noblest” in the OP.) ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 1999, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/girls-whats-in-a-name/5669/5 "1999-12-30T13:13:00Z")
- - - I don’t quite understand how the name “Falcon” can be understood to be a female personnage, even though it may have been obvious from _her_ posts. - - - For a while it seemed we were knee deep with female posters that used screennames that were variations on the word “cat” or “kitten”. I later found that my own sister (who does not post here) also uses a variation of the word “cat” as her web/net name and her email name. - MC