That is a good point - I do believe linguistics has something to do with it. A dear friend who is Catalonian tends to address me as "girl" in emails, and I have never viewed it as offensive. But, it depends on the use I suppose. In English, it's a rather degrading term, outside of perhaps romantic/sexual meanings (i.e. "girlfriend").
-Sarah On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 2:44 PM, Ralph Teckentrup <ador...@gmx.net> wrote: > One word on the girl thing: > > Maggie, you should keep in mind that Béria is not a native speaker of > English but of Portuguese. In German of course it would be quite offensive > to call a grown up woman or a group of women "Mädchen". > > Regards > > Ralph > > > > Von: gendergap-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org > [mailto:gendergap-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org] Im Auftrag von Maggie > Gesendet: Samstag, 1. Oktober 2011 19:38 > An: gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > Betreff: Re: [Gendergap] Gendergap Digest, Vol 9, Issue 5 > > I apologize if you are offended and find this discouraging, but I am not > apologizing for what I've said. And putting a happy face at the end of your > comment does not mean you haven't invalidated my opinions. I voiced > opinions > that I know several people on this list, let alone many women on Wikipedia, > are thinking. I may be very blunt in my style, and this might put people > off > of me, but I found what Beria said to be more insulting and "discouraging." > (...) > > > > _______________________________________________ > Gendergap mailing list > Gendergap@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/gendergap > -- GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for Wikimedia <http://www.glamwiki.org> Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American Art<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch> and Sarah Stierch Consulting *Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.* ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.sarahstierch.com/
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