This is weird. What's is the problem exactly?

I think it's respectful and I don't mind it.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't really mind if a female said it (like maybe if she was writing an email and starting it with something like, "Hey, ladies! blah blah blah"), but yes, if a male said it, it would rub me the wrong way too. Like he was a paternalistic 60-something trying to tell the little girlies in the office something.

+1

Does "gentlemen" bother you?

It doesn't bother me. I definitely think there are some men that, if they were to use it, I would notice, not in a good way.

Strange. I work in a male dominated field. Just today I was in a meeting of about 50 people and I looked around the room and including myself there were 3 women in the room.

I address a group of men often as "gentlemen". I take no offense to "ladies", but normally in a professionaly setting, for me, it's just "lady".

Maybe you should address them as "Womyn".

I'd much rather be addressed as "Ladies", than other similar terms...

It runs me the wrong way. Can you give an example of its use in a professional email?

Do you dislike it in general or in a very specific context? If the latter, can you give an example?

A couple of my lesbian friends use the word almost exclusively. Sounds more mature than "girl" and less formal and friendlier than "woman" is my guess.

I don't get it either. You have a very strange hangup.

I use it, but only because it sometimes works better than "you all", "y'all", or "you guys" or even just "you" as a plural. It's about as lame as "folks", but it's really just a collective noun for women.

I agree that I would use it carefully, especially if I were the only man using it to address women, but I work on a team of 3 women and have no problem when any of us use it.

I wouldn't really mind if a female said it (like maybe if she was writing an email and starting it with something like, "Hey, ladies! blah blah blah"), but yes, if a male said it, it would rub me the wrong way too. Like he was a paternalistic 60-something trying to tell the little girlies in the office something.

It rubs you the wrong way because you despise anything feminine. You want to be seen as masculine, but you call it "gender neutral".

I disagree -- what should people be using instead?

This really rubs me the wrong way, especially in a professional situation and especially in emails. I'm having a hard time putting my finger on exactely why, but I think it's because it's usually used by men or women whom I perceive to be stuck in 1950. My husband doesn't get it and I'm having a hard time saying why. Maybe because people are referring to peoples' gender when it really shouldn't matter what gender they are - but in situations in which it really USED to matter?

Do you agree? Why?