Guys and Gals

This musing relates, in some ways, to what I blathered on about on Monday. Similarly, it's something I've thought of several times in the past. It probably first occurred to me during a discussion of gender neutral language. There seem to be people out there, like the people who won't tolerate split infinitives, who aren't creative enough to write without the use of gendered pronouns. It really isn't that hard, but that isn't really what this post is about.

What it is about is my general frustration at a specific short-coming of our language. Perhaps a more visual representation will be illustrative:

Male.......................Female
Boy..........................Girl
Man.........................Woman
Martian...................Venusian
Guy..........................???

Now, I'm fine with referring to a mix-gendered group with a casual "Hey, guys." It may not be the greatest thing to happen to gender relations, but it isn't too bad in the grand scheme of things. What frustrates me is when I'm referring to a specific female whom the person I'm talking to doesn't know. For instance, "Yesterday, I saw this ??? I know in the Commons." The two ways to fill the blank ('girl' or 'woman') both seem inappropriate.

I think the general fall-back is 'girl', but in this day and age, it seems a little demeaning to call one of my female peers a 'girl' especially when I would never refer to a male friend as a 'boy'. However, 'woman' usually connotes an older woman, or at least one who is more mature relative to the speaker. Basically, they are analogues to 'boy' and 'man' and the problem is that there is no female analogue to 'guy'. The true analogue to 'guy' is 'gal' but somehow I just can't bring myself to call my female friends 'gals'.

Any and all suggestions or made up words which would obviate this problem are welcome. For now, I may have to stick to "female contemporary of approximately equal social standing."

Whatta (Wo)Man

In a frantic dash to get something published here before the next Wikipedia Wednesday, I'm posting this in the midst of, possibly, one of the busiest weeks of the semester. Which isn't to say that this post is rushed. In fact, I've been thinking about this topic for some time.

The topic is music and, more specifically, song lyrics and their gender-ambiguity or lack thereof. Just so you know how I came across this notion, let me first say that I sing along to almost every song I own. Mostly, in the car, but I'm not shy about doing it in public. In fact, I have trouble not singing along because I have an amazing/annoying memory for song lyrics. I, however, rarely encounter the feeling of misappropriation that comes with singing a love song which is in the context of a man singing about a woman.

To put it simply, I've noticed that most songs use pronouns and language that identify the singer as male or they avoid these words altogether. I noticed this while listening to the Save Ferris album It Means Everything. This band has a female lead singer, but not once in the entire album do they use language which identifies her as such. Many earlier examples exist as well, including Aretha Franklin. 'Chain of Fools', 'Respect', and 'Since You've Been Gone' are all ambiguous. Even 'I Never Loved a Man' is somewhat ambiguous except for the title which is also the chorus. Then it gets even more complicated when you start talking about the intended recipient of these lyrics which, for those singing along, would apply to people who were attracted to men, no matter what their gender.

There isn't really a thesis to all of this. I think that we just relate to these gendered songs in different ways, though maybe we don't know it. I guess I'm interested, if my small group of female readers would care to comment, what women do when they sing along to the multitude of popular songs which identify the singer as male. There are so many, and some of them get stuck in your head so easily.