Reply to calling women "ladies"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Freeman][quote=Anonymous]Seriously? The same way you would address anyone, gender mixed or not:

in person, primarily as "You"

or in emails, 
"Hello, everyone"
"Dear team"
"Hi"
[/quote]

Again, I was referring to a professional or formal situation, and none of the examples you give are what I would consider suitable openings for those types of communications. For instance, press announcements are often started with "Ladies and gentlemen of the press..." Graduation speeches start with "Respected professors, fellow students, ladies, and gentlemen..." For those types of communications, in which someone is addressing a group in a more formal environment, what is a suitable alternative?[/quote]

I think the difference here is that you have "ladies and gentlemen" included- in other words, it's inclusive, and the point of those sorts of announcements is to BE inclusive and to acknowledge everyone in the crowd. The word itself in that case isn't the problem.

If it were a crowd of ladies, I guess it would depend on why they were assembled. A mother's crowd addressed by another mother? Ladies is fine. A group of women who are all friends in an email started with "Ladies" is actually nice. It's inclusive. In fact, it points out what brings them together in many cases.

A man addressing a group of ladies should probably be more sensitive- especially if there's a power differential- to not pointing out this difference because it's irrelevant. [/quote]

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