Girlfriend

[blue_lotus13]

I should add that I always find it weird when women refer to their friends (platonic) as their "girlfriends". I've noticed that people may age tend not to do it as much. It seems to be a more middle-aged woman thing.

It also interests me that men never refer to their male friends by this fashion. Guys can saying that they are waiting for a friend, but there is no way for them to specify the gender of the friend without sounding like the friend is their male or female partner. I wonder why we are socialized to use these particular terms.

Thoughts?

Comments

[ladysita.livejournal.com]

i say girlfriends and guyfriends, whichever. or just friends.

oh and im 21, so i'm not really the typical middle aged woman

[arwenoid.livejournal.com]

I date women and men. So generally if I'm referring to a woman as my girlfriend, it implies a little more than simply friendship...

Since alternate sexualities are a little more out in the open and acceptable, this might be why women are reluctant to use the term these days.

[angharad.livejournal.com]

I think it's more the visibility, rather than the acceptability of the "alternate sexualities". I'm guessing that some young women don't use the term because they don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about them.

[monstarrsoprano.livejournal.com]

This puzzles me too.
I have no way to explain it.

[(Anonymous)]

hm interesting, I think half of the time I use the term girlfriend. I hadn't really thought about it before...

[(Anonymous)]

sorry, the above comment was me!
-col

[brdgt.livejournal.com]

I use girlfriend for women and friend for men and I'm 28. I also have more guy friends than female friends...

[jinxremoving.livejournal.com]

after i came out to my mother, she was like, "well, i have girlfriends, but i don't sleep with them." which was just a whole extra unnecessary layer of awkwardness.

[elf-chick.livejournal.com]

there's a comedian (Jeffrey someone...not Ross; i don't remember) who was talking about his grandmother referring to a male friend of his as "Jeffrey's boyfriend". He told her not to and everafter she would say, "This is Jeffrey and his friend Warren; they're just friends."

I think that it's an older generation thing (my grandmother says it of my friends...hee), when they could say it without the automatic implied meaning (like now) because people didn't really talk about that issue.

[applehangover.livejournal.com]

I've used the term 'girlfriend' my entire life. I think my mom started me on that when I was very little.

Around here many people tend to be very PC and use terms like 'partner' when referring to same sex relationships. Some people even use 'partner' for het. relationships. Partner is a pretty genderless term.

[tunabelly.livejournal.com]

most guys i know refer to each other as "buddy" or "pal". but they will refer to female friends as just "friends" - actually i think some of female friends also use this model. i refer to everyone as "friend" i dont' really see the need to be gender specific. if whoever i'm talkin to wants to know - they usually ask.

[astronautical.livejournal.com]

I have recently started saying girlfriend and I love it. I don't usually say "I'm waiting for a girlfriend" but I do say "my girlfriends and I did this..." or "I was talking to a girlfriend and ..."

[angharad.livejournal.com]

Just a linguistic thought, too, but "of course" the male term is the plain/unaltered/generic one, and the female term has a special modifier. You know, like "stewardess" or "comedienne".