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.
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.
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 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 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.”
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?”
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.