The general belief among the American population today is that sexism is a thing of the past. When someone points out a sexist behavior or remark, the people around often write it off as hypersensitivity about being “politically correct.”
The truth is that sexism is still extensive in our society, and the very fact that people believe sexism is nonexistent is symptomatic of the problem. One of the largest areas in which sexism is problematic is our language. Specifically, the word “girl” is often used to refer to an adult woman, whereas the word “boy” is almost never used in reference to an adult man, unless an insult is intended. When someone uses the word “boy,” the listener pictures a child, not past adolescence. But “girl” is universal for females of any age; many grown women refer to themselves as girls.
This mislabeling of women appears to be indicative of the association of women with children, or the idea that women are “childlike” in nature; it also reflects disrespect toward women that, unfortunately, seems to be regarded as entirely acceptable since people are rarely admonished for their sexist language. When women refer to themselves as girls, it is also symptomatic and reflects the damage done to her by hearing “girl” applied to her and the women around her. Social conditioning like this makes evident that women have been made uncomfortable referring to themselves as adults, apart from children.
Aside from a reflection of a greater disrespectful attitude toward women, calling us “girls” has larger consequences that are tied to other gender discrepancies in our society. For example, when a woman is referred to as a girl by a male colleague or boss, she is getting the message that she is less important than the males in her presence; whether or not she is conscious of it, the message is out there. This belittling is bound to make a woman less confident to ask for a raise or go for a promotion, thus adding to the pay discrepancy between women and men in the United States. (In 2005, college-educated women earned only 72 percent as much as college-educated men, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity.) In short, it is patronizing.
The word “girl” (similar to boy, which is used much less often) has come to have negative connotations no matter who it’s applied to; calling a man a girl, for example, is to say that he is a wimp, a sissy, childlike, un-masculine or effeminate, which in our culture is obviously meant as an insult. When the word “boy” is used, nobody would think of a professional, middle-aged man in a work setting. They would instead picture a child, so why would a professional woman of the same age be labeled “girl?”
In college classrooms, the problem is especially prevalent and painfully damaging. Male professors, as well as female, are likely to refer to the women in the classroom as girls. The anti-feminist would argue that gender equality in higher education has been achieved because the numbers of men and women in colleges are roughly even, but to spend time in a classroom that has both male and female students would show differently, and the words used to refer to women reflect the trouble women still face in educational settings.
Arguably, women have reconfigured the word “girl” in some instances to be a positive one, as in “girl power” or “girls’ night out,” and used feminist plays on the word, such as in “grrl” and “gurl,” but these uses are not applicable to the more widespread use of the word, mainly by men, to refer to a woman in a professional, social, or educational setting.
Arguing for a change in language toward women is not simply a fight for “political correctness” or a squabble over semantics; it brings with it the changes women seek in equal pay, equal treatment and equal opportunities, as well as an improvement in attitudes towards women’s worth. To dismiss this noticeable cultural anomaly as insignificant would be at the very least an insult to the feminist movement. And speaking of which, when did “feminist” become such a dirty word? What with the ultra offensive label of “feminazi,” I think popularized by the devil’s own Rush Limbaugh, it is not surprising that assertive, self-confident women are still second class citizens throughout most of the world.
A facet of some women’s reluctance to adopt this attitude is likely seated in the fear of becoming “unattractive” or seeming “too brainy”. With childhood companions like the talking Barbie dolls of the 90’s, which declared, “Let’s go shopping!” and “Math is hard!” it’s no surprise that as adults, we continue to subconsciously demote ourselves. We’re women, not girls, so ditch this misnomer and start treating us the way you’d expect to be treated, with respect. That’s all we ask, and honestly, it shouldn’t be that big of deal.