# Is this instance of the word 'girls' hate speech?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-instance-of-the-word-girls-hate-speech/927239>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 4, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-instance-of-the-word-girls-hate-speech/927239 "2020-12-04T22:36:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 112

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-instance-of-the-word-girls-hate-speech/927239/112 "2020-12-11T07:04:34Z")

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Well, it was [this post](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optometrist-or-ophthalmologist/926362), in a thread previously pretty focused and detailed about the differences between the two eye-care specialties, where jtur88 remarked

> [@jtur88](#):
>
> An optometrist is a guy who hires girls to sell eyeglasses for him.

This usage was gently pushed back on by another poster, leading to the following exchanges:

> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> That’s an optician, not an optometrist. And who knows, she might hire guys to sell eyeglasses for her.

> [@jtur88](#):
>
> […] In my experience, though, optometrists and sales staff are both employees of opticians. The optician is largely a fashion industry, so (here in flyover states) the employees are mostly still girls, and readily identifiable as such.

> [@CairoCarol](#):
>
> “Girls”? Either they are hiring 16-year-olds, or you might consider updating your language. If they are over 18 but youthful in appearance, there is always “young women” to employ as an alternative, and more accurate, term.

> [@jtur88](#):
>
> […] through 35 years I might have seen ten different (all male) optometrists […]

> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#):
>
> What does male have to do with it?

> [@jtur88](#):
>
> That was a reply to Cairo Carol, who said my optometrist might have been a “she”. It is so tiring, the the only comment on any post is only about its political correctness.

At which point jtur88 was “pre-warned” by a mod and flounced:

> [@jtur88](#):
>
> Never mind, I’m self-banning from this thread, since nobody wants to talk about anything but my politically incorrect pronouns, which was not my derail. I made a post on-topic, then defended against off-topic replies.

Sexist, somewhat demeaning, incoherent and illogical speech, definitely, but I would not classify it as “hate speech”. Except in the sense that I’d hate to speak like that.

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