Comments on: Language Matters: Stop Using “Guys” to Address Mix-Gender Groups

By: Jennie

Jennie — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:59:24 +0000

I have just found this website, and I think I’m about to cry.
This post in particular touched close to home. I am a female programmer and everyone at my current company seems to prefer the term “guys” when discussing the engineers or programmers.
I brought it up to the HR lady, and she listened to the complaint, but then didn’t know what to do about it. I tried to bring it up on facebook on a WISE page, (Women in Science and Engineering) and the ladies on there all said it was a small thing and I should just ignore it.
I must not be good at ignoring things, because it bothers me EVERYTIME it gets used.
I don’t have anything relevant to add, but I did want to drop a line and say a heart felt thank you. Thank you for this website, and thank you for this post.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 21:56:09 +0000

I really love this article. I do not support “you guys” and “guys” for objects or humans in about 13 years. I think since the age of reason (after high school hehe) and in college I started thinking about it. The funny thing is that mostly men pointed out to me that “you guys” is weird and most females lay down to accept it and over use it. I had one teacher in college that was female that made a point not to use it especially in processional settings and I love her for it. I now tell people I don’t like it and not to use it but sadly no one hears me and my supervisor (female) uses it so much it makes me want to ignore her and have as little contact as possible with her verbally..what to do?

By: ConFigures

ConFigures — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:24:07 +0000

But who dragged in “policing everyone at an organization”? Not the original poster, who simply suggested people review their own words and choose more inclusive terms.

By: Open Source, Closed Minds? A reflection on Joseph Reagle’s “‘Free as in sexist?’ Free culture and the gender gap” | Geek Feminism Blog

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 16:06:32 +0000

[…] threats or a constant stream of little reminders that no one feels obligated to include you (like co-workers addressing a mixed-gender group as “guys”) is to make out-group members feel like they’re just not wanted. “Good” people […]

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:04:32 +0000

Since recently, I try to reduce the ''guys'' usage. Instead I'm going with 'folks' ''y'all'' or ''peeps''. They work fine for me.

By: Melissa Chavez

Melissa Chavez — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 03:57:49 +0000

Since I’ve been learning more Spanish this past year, I’ve been reminded how much of a role gender plays in my everyday language. In Spanish, groups of mixed company (with at least one male) take a male pronoun, whether it be an informal “you”, “us” or “them”. Only a formal version of “you” is neutral. It definitely reinforces a male-dominant culture. I really wish this wasn’t the case, as I end up sounding more formal than everyone else when speaking to people at work.

I try to say “everyone” when addressing a crowd (or in OSB email correspondence), and to not specifically refer to gender at all.

By: Tim Chevalier

Tim Chevalier — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:12:43 +0000

What makes your reading right and Christie’s reading wrong? What authority do you have to decide?

By: Christie Koehler

Christie Koehler — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 05:16:43 +0000

English does have a second person plural, it’s you.

Americans (particularly West Coasters) just aren’t used to using it and have adopted more informal alternative like “you guys.” As a listener, and the object of such usage, I don’t care a lot about the speaker’s intent or their assumptions. I don’t usually think they are selecting their words intentionally. And that’s the problem. Combating systems of oppression means critically examining our in-grained, unconscious behaviors, including language and speech patterns, for those that maintain such power structures and then working to change them. And that’s why I’m asking those around me to start using greater intention and insight when selecting their words.

Would there be more minority math professors at your university if the existing ones stopped saying “you guys”? No, that alone, probably wouldn’t fix the dearth of minorities at your university or in the STEM fields in general because that is a multi-faceted issue. However, paying attention to language and applying mindfulness to its use in everyday situations is one vector for working on the problem.

By: Christie Koehler

Christie Koehler — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 04:52:06 +0000

So you’re saying she didn’t criticize the way I addressed my grievance, she criticized the fact that I raised it in the first place? And that’s okay, because…?

By: Lovelace

Lovelace — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 04:25:20 +0000

I just searched my inbox, because I vaguely remembered a professor addressing the members of our class list as “guys” when he’d send out homework assignments. Apparently this happened fairly often, and there were a couple professors who did it. I don’t think it ever occurred to me to read the term as gendered in those contexts, even when it was a math professor. Our math major population was majority female, but the professors were mostly male, and there was one class I took where there was only one other girl left by the end of the class (a couple people dropped the class, because it was harder than any of us had expected).

I dunno, I mean, it is technically a gendered term, and I can see why it might bother you–it’s legit to be offended by it, and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be. But I don’t think it is inherently exclusionary. I think it’s less that the speaker assumes the group is majority male and more that it’s one of the most common words used to address groups, mixed gender or otherwise. It’s kind of inconvenient that English doesn’t have a standard second-person plural like some other languages do.