“Hey guys! How are you guys?” How do you feel about this word being used as a general term? Should we work towards ridding this word from our vocabulary? Or is this not something important to you individually? How would you work towards correcting oneself, are there better words that work for you? Just a light hearted chat / discussion!
I know a lot of people don't mind, but I try to correct myself when I inadvertently type "guys" when referring to a group of people containing multiple genders and sexes. I substitute it with "people" or "everyone".
I don’t mind “guys” and I have used it myself for mixed groups. Being called “love” by a total stranger bothers me much more. It’s patronising.
It doesn't matter to me. But after hearing it bothers some people, I'd starting using folks or y'all (only in text though)
Early in my transition I had some issues with it if I was in a group addressed that way or if I was addressed as "dude", I do not see it as something to make an issue of anymore though.
I never thought about it being triggering for a trans woman. Thank you for pointing out that perspective.
I see it as just casual and gender neutral and personally do not have a problem with it, but if somebody else does then I just use some other term like "yall" or "everybody," which I also tend to use a lot anyway.
I personally don't care I've never thought of it as a gendered term. However I do know people who don't like it so instead I try to stick to you all or y'all.
I'm totally ok with it (but then again I'm a guy). Seems like its pretty much become a general term these days though anyway. Sometimes if I'm typing something where I'm replying to multiple genders I'll use "guys/gals" instead of just "guys". And I've been known to use "yall" too...
Yes! I'm okay with it. Look at it this way. The word "gay" used to only mean happy and joyful. People got used to it meaning sexual orientation and things that were completely different than that and some people probably never used it this new way because it meant happy and joyful for most of their lives. "You guys" has been used in casual conversation for so long that it shouldn't ruffle any feathers. (I hope not.)
I think the only people I have heard dislike it was one one grandma and my mother in law who was a high school English teacher. So I generally used it more because I am an ass. To me its almost as unoffensive and unspecific as the word dude.
I am trying to avoid using it when talking to mixed gender groups because it stems from patriarchal culture that lets male terms be the default. This is at least better in English than some languages (Spanish, Latin, etc.) which have gender for most nouns and require the masculine ending for mixed groups. How often have you heard “girls” or “you girls” being used in the same way? That’s a good sign these terms are not as gender-neutral as claimed.
This is a good point. Some women don’t like being referred to as a “girl” or “girls” either though, because it’s seen as being likened to a child.
I don’t have a problem with it. I think it’s gender neutral. You could call out every gender when talking to a mixed group but it would take a while. I don’t like the term girl because I’m an adult woman but my mother calls her group of friends ‘the girls’ and they’re all around 60.
I do have a problem with it. For the whole world is already dominantly male. I prefer to use the word 'people' if you want to adress more people. It's very logical.