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J. B. wrote:
>Are you perchance somewhere in the Southern United States?
>It is a common practice in the South for older persons to refer to
>anyone and everyone as Sugar, Babe, or Darling...and they
>consider it gender neutral. This is starting to fall into disuse,
but
>it is still out there.
I'm in St. Louis, Missouri ... which usually falls into the category
of Southern US. To add to it, I work at Home Depot; a magnet for
Cro-Magnon man. (For those unfamiliar with Home Depot, think
hardware store on major steroids). I don't mind the euphemisms
as much coming from co-workers I'm on a friendly basis with ...
especially when I know it's their cultural thing and that they don't
(appear) to think less of me because I'm female. As for my
customers, I give an ounce of leeway for age and regionally, but
otherwise it does bug me. Those euphemisms may have had their
place in the 1940's when society expected women to be wives and
daughters first, and workers maybe. But in this day and age, I don't
think it's unreasonable to expect that it's an inappropriate way to
address someone in a work environment.
I would disagree with the gender neutrality on the basis that men
don't refer to other men as Babe, Sugar, or Honey (at least not
until each is sure that the other is also gay and they are well out
of homophobic earshot). By their very nature, these terms are
female. From my 32-year-old, Detroit raised vantage point ...
Male to Female: is by far the most common use I see and virtually
always comes off as sexist or with sexual overtones
Female to Male: the woman ends up sounding like she's flirting
with the guy and demeans herself
Female to Female: just sounds awkward and demeaning to both
of us
Sorry if I'm coming off too strong on this point but, well, maybe
that's -my- cultural thing. Meanwhile, on my Home Depot apron
under "Hi, I'm 'Mary'," I wrote several of these euphemisms, each
with a red circle and slash over it. I get a lot of positive comments
on it from the P.C. crowd and some of the people who otherwise
would have called me those names even get the hint!
- - Mary; Please look at my -eyes- sir. Thank you.
- --
"It would have been both ironic and glamorous
to be finished off by a four-foot glitter ball."
- Boy George; after a falling disco ball
narrowly missed his head.
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