Should the term "you guys" refer to males only, or is it more or less genderless?

My wife thinks if one uses the term, as in, “hey, what are you guys doing this weekend?”, that it should apply only to the male of the species. I think it’s become such a general term that it’s fine to use for a mixed group of men and women. I’d probably even use for two or more women I was casually acquainted with, say if I passed a couple women I worked with in the hall I might say “hey, guys”. But I wouldn’t refer to a single female as a guy, so maybe it’s just me who is being too casual with informal gendered pronouns, and my wife is correct.

What do you guys think?

It’s gender neutral…

I just avoid the issue by saying “you folks”

Part of me thinks it’s only gender-neutral if you can also refer to a bunch of guys as “you gals” without getting punched.

That said, I use it to refer to men & women both. I blame the sexism inherent in the system. I’m switching to use “y’all” instead.

You guys is genderless

Youse and youse guys are also genderless and ::shudder::

*Y’all *and all y’all are most correct.

It’s gender-neutral for me – I and women I know use it all the time to address other women.

E: I would also be game for a nationwide adoption of “y’all” and “all y’all”

Gender-neutral.

I have a weekly status phone call with a number of colleagues who are all women at other companies, and I always begin the conversation “Hey guys.”

(my embolden) I almost missed that.

I think of it as leaning towards male, so I’ll often say ‘you lot’, ‘you’, ‘OK people’ (I think I got that from the TV series Fame), ‘we’ or ‘everyone’. It depends on whether I’m speaking in the first, second or third person plural, or maybe I don’t want to commit to any of them. If I ask “What’s everyone doing this weekend?” that also includes me, although I should already know.

Gender Neutral

I was told by a coworker that women and/or trans people might be offended by it, but if you’re offended by “you guys” then you need to get over yourself and get real

I think “you guys,” like “mankind,” is a gender neutral term, meant to apply to both men and women. The fact that we use a masculine word to describe “men and women” is absolutely a result of the fact that the language was developed in a male-centric culture.

Gender neutral. So are most phrases/expressions these day including “girlfriend” (As in “Girlfriend, you just AREN’T going to believe what I found”)

Gender neutral. And I’ve used “you girls” to a group of males . . . but that’s just me.

It’s gender-neutral and if you’re offended by it you need to pull up your big girl panties and grow up.

Gender neutral in general. I use the term among friends. If there is a group of people that I don’t know, I usually use “You folks”…especially if the group is older.

I would say it’s gender neutral. I’m certainly not offended by it, and I use it, too. I’m thinking older women (in their 80s or 90s) might not like it, but I don’t know anyone younger who would even notice the use.

I use it in a gender-neutral way, and I don’t mind if someone calls a group that I’m a part of “you guys.”

Genderless

I knew a bunch of young women who went to all-girl high schools. They constantly called each other by their last names and referred to their peer group as “the guys.”

If it didn’t bother them, it doesn’t bother me.

A group of men only = You guys

A group of men and women = You guys

A group of women only = You ladies.

I’ve actually done social experiments with the word “ladies”.
If I’m at work and I pass two women in the hallway and say to them: “How are y’all doing today?” they will typically respond with a very passive response: “I’m doing good.”

If however, I were to say to those same two women: “How are you ladies doing today?” you can see their face light up with a more cheery, animated response: “Hey, Shakes! I’m doing well! How are you?”

The Washington Post points out that the gender-neutral use of you guys goes back at least to the 1930s: http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/24/an-unnecessarily-long-and-surprisingly-fascinating-history-of-guys/.

Me, I say “y’all”. But a linguist I read once, and I’m sorry I can’t find the cite, argued that you guys is becoming the standard second-person plural pronoun in American English. I do notice a growing use of y’all by non-Southerners, though.