If I am speaking to a group of Betty White's classmates, I will say ladies instead of girls. If it is a group of Miley Cyrus lookalikes it will be girls.

Wow, all inclusive?
I remember hearing an anry tirade from one american immigrant who was offended by a local custom of calling woman madam

Anonymous wrote: My bottom line: if it's in a situation where color/gender/etc. aren't relevant, but they used to be and sometimes still are relevant and are used as the basis for discrimination, why on earth would we need to point it out?

I'm not the OP but have always hated the term "ladies." It's like fingernails on a blackboard to me, even when used by women exclusively addressing other women. (The lone exception being "Hey Ladies" by the Beastie Boys, thanks for that PP!) To those asking what to use in place in an email, etc., maybe nothing? As the PP quoted above raised, why should the gender of the recipient/audience be referenced if it need not be, unless it's all-inclusive (i.e., ladies and gentlemen)?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do think there is a difference when it's one man addressing a group of women. Just like "negro" was at one point neutral, it would be considered terribly racist today. Ladies isn't as extreme, but because we used to use "ladies" in the workplace to tell them to get coffee, dress cutely, and be a secretary only it might be time for a different term given the associations in that particular environment.

It would? Heavens me. It's just the Spanish word for "black." What are we supposed so say? Because "African-American" isn't always accurate, "nigger" is an epithet, "colored" just sounds prejudiced. How about, "you people?'

Are you pretending to be a Southern idiot or are you really that dumb?

KNEE-GROW is not the same as NAY-GRO so unless you are a Spanish speaker, what reason do you have to call people KNEE-GROWS?

If you are ESL then my apologies. ¡Orale, güey!

The PP is just being an asshole. Even being ESL wouldn't be an excuse to call black people Negros in English. The word "negro" translates to black, not to Negro.

To those female twenty-somethings and early-thirtysomethings who think that things have progressed for women: just wait until you hit that glass ceiling. It's a painful thud.

We are still getting paid 77 cents on the white man's dollar.

OP, this drove my mother nuts, too, and now bugs me a bit. The reason that it bugged my mom is because the word "ladies" brings with it the connotation that there's this other group of bitches and tramps out there. It's not really a word that should be used in a professional setting.

The reason "women" feels wrong to say is because both "women" and "ladies" shouldn't be used to refer to groups of females. Why people can't just say "everyone" is beyond me. It's probably nothing I would ask someone to stop as you can see the level of offense people take to the idea that it might be offense.

I call my toddler daughter "lady" but it is only because I have the song, "Hey Ladies!" going through my head all day long for the past 3 years. Grown women aren't "ladies". They're chicks! Just kidding.

Anonymous wrote:Ladies do not go and make coffee for their bosses. That is what the kitchen staff is for

No, that is what the kurig is for!

Would you prefer "What up hoes."

I do not get this thread. There is nothing wrong with saying "ladies."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My bosses call me "young lady" all the time, in a sugary manner and I think it's cute (FWIW they call the young guys "young man" too - I'm 27). The other one (the one I report into) calls me kid, which I dont mind either, considering he treats me like the best employee ever. I think people look for all kinds of ways to be offended nowadays and everything becomes a walk-on-eggshell task not to offend people like the OP, which is a pain in the ass. If people want to insult you, there are 3000 ways to do so that do not involve the word lady. Stop looking for reasons to be offended. Life is already too hard.

Great that you think it's cute and you don't mind, but that would not be acceptable to me. I don't go around calling the boss "grandpa".
I would feel that they don't take me seriously as a professional and my career advancement would be stunned in that workplace.

I have received two promotions and three raises since I started working here 6 months ago. I have no reason to think that him calling me kid is going to impact me negatively whatsoever. As a matter of fact, his great reviews of my job performance were the reasons for promotion #1 and promotion #2 was solely his idea.

Anonymous wrote:My bosses call me "young lady" all the time, in a sugary manner and I think it's cute (FWIW they call the young guys "young man" too - I'm 27). The other one (the one I report into) calls me kid, which I dont mind either, considering he treats me like the best employee ever. I think people look for all kinds of ways to be offended nowadays and everything becomes a walk-on-eggshell task not to offend people like the OP, which is a pain in the ass. If people want to insult you, there are 3000 ways to do so that do not involve the word lady. Stop looking for reasons to be offended. Life is already too hard.

Great that you think it's cute and you don't mind, but that would not be acceptable to me. I don't go around calling the boss "grandpa".
I would feel that they don't take me seriously as a professional and my career advancement would be stunned in that workplace.

My bosses call me "young lady" all the time, in a sugary manner and I think it's cute (FWIW they call the young guys "young man" too - I'm 27). The other one (the one I report into) calls me kid, which I dont mind either, considering he treats me like the best employee ever. I think people look for all kinds of ways to be offended nowadays and everything becomes a walk-on-eggshell task not to offend people like the OP, which is a pain in the ass. If people want to insult you, there are 3000 ways to do so that do not involve the word lady. Stop looking for reasons to be offended. Life is already too hard.

I don't care for the use of the word "lady" but fortunately I think things have progressed enough for women that I don't lose sleep over it.

You are only allowed to say, "Look Negroes" if you are a Negro. And don't forget it!