I hate it.
I’ve also noticed that people who use “female” in that manner are often really sexist. Not always, but there’s a high correlation.
Yeah, some broads are like that.
sigh Dames. What are ya gonna do?
I could go the opposite way on this. I hear on the news a lot that feminists prefer to say “women teachers” or “women firefighters” as opposed to “female teachers or firefighters”. It’s always seemed grammatically awkward to me.
Well, “female” is being used adjectivally in “female teachers,” so it’s not a problem, in my view.
OK – How many female teachers are there in this school?
Not OK – How many teachers in this school are females?
Well it’s an adjective in your example, not a noun.
Is it grammatically correct to ask, “How many men nurses do you have in your unit?”
If so, doesn’t, “How many male nurses do you have in your unit?” sound less awkward?
All collective terms for female humans / women are loaded with gender politics. If we invented a new neutral term tomorrow it’d become politically loaded soon enough.
Gender politics seems to be an innate human need.
I’m not saying that’s a *good *thing, just that is *is *a thing.
We definately use the word “women” in sentences where substituting “men” sounds really weird. All of which is a leftover from the even more gender-bound thinking of 50 or 100 years ago.
That’s what he said. When used as an adjective it sounds fine. It’s only when used as a noun that it sounds awkward and/or disrespectful.
The only times I hear that are from military/police or litigants on People’s Court.
Hello there, female
My, my, but you do look swell
Could you please walk
A little slower
- Girl Watcher (The O’Kaysions)
Nothing sexist about that. 
My freshman comp students use both “males” and “females” as nouns all the damn time. It bugs me, but it’s one of those little, nagging annoyances that I don’t bother to correct most of the time, since there are usually more serious things wrong with the paper and you’ve got to pick your battles.
I kind of understand where it comes from, since they’re usually writing about fellow students or other peers, and I think they recognize that calling themselves “girls” and “guys” is inappropriate for academic writing, but they’re not yet used to thinking of themselves as “men” and “women.” (Actually, I believe I’ve just hit on the reason why it bothers me so much: I think eighteen is jolly well old enough to start thinking of yourself as an adult, and acting as an adult, and it drives me batty when college students act like they’re still in high school.)
First of all, it’s not a question of grammar, but of semantics.
Second, I don’t think you are grasping what people are saying in this thread – Adjectival use of “female” is fine; it’s nominal use of “female” that bothers people.
It’s not just that, though – there’s something distancing about calling women “females,” like they’re an alien species or something, not human like the speaker. What is going on with them that inspires them to use that word? Like that thread title around here a few weeks ago, something like “Currently dating a female – should I show her the real me?” Why did that person not use the word “woman”?
Edit: It’s this thread. And then it turns out the OP has serious Madonna/whore issues, what a surprise.
I can see it occasionally, when you need an umbrella term that encompasses both “girls” and “women”. Or if, say, a bachelor is commiserating to his dog after a bad date: “Females. Bah!” But in a context (which is almost all of the time) where all of the folks being referred to are adult humans? “Women” or “ladies” works just fine.
What really bugs me is when folks either A, refer to adult women as “girls” or “gals”, or B, feel the need to specify gender when it’s not relevant. My dad has a habit of doing both: “A gal doctor handled my last appointment at the hospital.” “Wait, Dad, your doctor was only a child?” “OK, a woman doctor…” “And why were you seeing a gynecologist, anyway, Dad?” In my dad’s world, there are doctors and there are gal doctors, lawyers and gal lawyers, judges and gal judges, and in all cases, the latter are not to be taken as seriously. It’s not completely one-sided, though: There are also nurses and male nurses (though never boy nurses).
Exactly.
Well, in such a case, objectifying and demeaning are intended, perhaps?
I consider “ladies” to be old-fashioned and condescending except when used by a master of ceremonies in the phrase “ladies and gentlemen.” Addressing people in person as “ladies” is tacky.
When I’m talking to my male friends, any woman who is roughly our age or younger is a “girl.” It’s the counterpart to “guy.”
I’d find it very weird for any man younger than 75 to use “gals” unironically.
I agree with the prevailing view here on the nominal use of “female,” though I have noticed a lot of people here using “black,” etc., the same way.
Do you find it old-fashioned, condescending or tacky to address men as “gentlemen”?
Yes.
I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only one who has issues with this. I rarely hear “male” used the same way, so there’s definitely something to it. I also realize that male/female is used like this in military and law enforcement and I have no issue with that.
It seems like guys who use female this way don’t want to give full respect by just referring to us as women. I’ve never found “women” to be a loaded term. I think most of us are happy with it. The girls/ladies thing doesn’t bother me, but I do find it strange when grown women are referred to as girls. Still, it’s infinitely better than female.
Can you give some examples of what you’re saying here? I can’t think of any usage of women that wouldn’t also be appropriate for men.