Does referring to a woman as a 'girl' reinforce the patriarchy?
For some it might seem like a harmless, almost throwaway description
However, for writer Barbara Scully it is something she admits has been annoying her “for a long time” as she thinks it “subtly undermines” women.
“A girl refers to a child,” she told Lunchtime Live.
“Once you’re over 18, you’re an adult generally.
“I do agree with you, it depends on the context.
“I would not be beyond saying, ‘We’re having a girls’ night out.’
“But in a work situation or in a more formal situation where you wouldn’t use the term ‘boy’ to describe a man, then yes, I have a problem.
“It is reductive and part of the patriarchal society in which we live.”
Two young fitness women running in the autumn park. 12 November 2022. Alamy.comMs Scully said her husband had a habit of coming home and talking about a ‘girl he met at work’.
She has had to work hard to “train him” out of the habit.
“I find that men in particular have a real problem with saying ‘woman’,” she said.
“He then used to come home and get that rabbit in the headlights when he knew was about to say ‘the girl’.
“What is the problem with referring to women as ‘women’? It is a much more powerful phrase.”
'Stay well away from Cork'
Also on the show was Joe O’Shea of CorkBeo.ie who said in Cork the term in an important part of the local vernacular.
“If you have a problem being called ‘girl’, do not come to Cork,” he said.
“Stay well away from Cork because it’s a real cultural thing here.
“And not just girls - it’s girls and boys.
“‘How’s it going girl?’ ‘How’s it going boy?’ You’d hear pensioners use that to each other.”
Main image: Stressed woman at desk. Image: Kateryna Onyshchuk / Alamy Stock Photo
