# Using the word "female" as a noun **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 11, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601 "2011-07-11T07:33:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/1 "2011-07-11T07:33:40Z")
Recently I’ve been thinking about this and wanted to ask your opinion on it. It’s always kind of bothered me when I hear guys use the word “female” as a noun, but I never thought about why until fairly recently. I’m not overly sensitive or one to get offended too easily, but this definitely annoys me. I don’t like this usage and I can’t help it having a negative effect on my impression of a guy. When I hear something like, “Yeah, man, let’s go to the club and meet some females,” or “Females are all about some shoe shopping” it just feels like just feels sort of disrespectful, like we’re just the sum of our parts. It’s just not appropriate to talk about us like we’re animals or something. I don’t know. What do you guys think? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/2 "2011-07-11T07:37:46Z")
I don’t use it, but both “women” and “girls” have been bastardized in some of the same circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/3 "2011-07-11T07:54:21Z")
Do many males do this? ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/4 "2011-07-11T08:03:26Z")
It bothers me a bit. It’s a word for livestck, not people. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/5 "2011-07-11T08:38:38Z")
I used to use the word “females” as a noun, oh, maybe 6 years ago. My thinking was, it avoided a lot of the baggage of the terms “girl, woman, lady” etc. Female - simple. The term “men”, on the other hand, doesn’t have that baggage. “Boys”, I have never used. Nowadays I say “girls/ladies” when talking about my colleagues, or “women” when talking about non-related parties. It’s still a minefield, but I gathered that the use of the term “females” ticked them all off equally. 😉 IMO, it’s a lack of social skills thing - as I interacted more socially, I got more of a feel of when to use girl, when to use woman (actually, almost always women, a singular woman gets named), when to use ladies, when it might be actually appropriate to use bitch (am actually surprised at how often the girls sling THAT term around). ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/6 "2011-07-11T08:48:17Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It bothers me a bit. It’s a word for livestck, not people. Yeah, I always get the impression the speaker (who is invariably a man) is an alien who has come to this planet to analyse potential human breeding and consumption. ---
**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/7 "2011-07-11T10:47:19Z")
When in doubt, I go for ridiculousness. “Female women of the opposite sex”, for example, or “lady-type people”. Add a cut-glass accent to complete the effect. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/8 "2011-07-11T10:54:43Z")
I personally think there are many times when it makes more sense, so as to avoid specifying ladies, women, or girls. But, if it offends, I guess I can lump it in with gay and Jew. I personally find using woman as an adjective more offensive. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/9 "2011-07-11T11:06:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > It bothers me a bit. It’s a word for livestck, not people. Or a Police report "Causasian female, 40s, last seen at the bus stop on the corner of blah blah…’ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/10 "2011-07-11T12:39:07Z")
Eh, it beats ‘‘bitches.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/11 "2011-07-11T12:54:01Z")
I’m a guy and it annoys me when other guys use “female” as a noun also. I don’t really know why though. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/12 "2011-07-11T13:07:29Z")
The first time I heard a guy who did this routinely, it was my step-grandfather. Every two seconds: “So I was walking down the street and I saw these females…” It was as if he didn’t know the word “women” existed. He sounded like a Ferengi. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/13 "2011-07-11T13:07:50Z")
It’s a red flag for me. In my experience, there are two groups of people who use “female” as a noun a lot: law enforcement officers (who also use “male” as a noun equally as often) and people with fucked up ideas about women. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/14 "2011-07-11T13:14:48Z")
English is my second language so I might be quite wrong about the meanings ascribed to word in English: In English, “female” and “male” have a zoological meaning but also have a clinical/matter of fact meaning, such as what might be written on an ID card. Should I be offended if my ID card or other paperwork says I’m male? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/15 "2011-07-11T13:15:15Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Eh, it beats ‘‘bitches.’’ and hos! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/16 "2011-07-11T13:16:13Z")
Wow, I had no idea that chicks hated that. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/17 "2011-07-11T13:22:48Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > English is my second language so I might be quite wrong about the meanings ascribed to word in English: In English, “female” and “male” have a zoological meaning but also have a clinical/matter of fact meaning, such as what might be written on an ID card. Should I be offended if my ID card or other paperwork says I’m male? That’s a correct context to use words like “male” or “female” - not when used as a noun to describe other people in normal conversation. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/18 "2011-07-11T13:42:05Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > That’s a correct context to use words like “male” or “female” - not when used as a noun to describe other people in normal conversation. It’s very much a cold way to talk, but it falls short of “disrespectful, like we’re just the sum of our parts. It’s just not appropriate to talk about us like we’re animals or something”. Aren’t there people who refer to men as “males”? I’ve only ever heard one person talk like that but then again, I tend to stay away from people who would use “male” and “female” according to their zoological meanings. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/19 "2011-07-11T13:53:33Z")
I hear it from soldiers too - I assume it’s part of that weird kind of military-speak. When I hear it out of a law enforcement, zoo breeding, or military context I assume you are a serial killer. Almost without exception whenever it’s used here on the SDMB I know it’s going to be the kind of OP that makes me feel like I need a shower. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601/20 "2011-07-11T14:01:21Z")
I first heard it from cops and it seems to me that it has spread from there. I find use of “females” in this respect to be very objectifying and dehumanizing. Sometimes when I hear someone say it, I quip “Female? Female what? Primates of some kind, I assume”? I feel the same way about the term “male.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-the-word-female-as-a-noun/588601.md?page=2)