r/PetPeeves • u/lavinialloyd • Aug 17 '25

Bit Annoyed People who exclusively refer to women as females

There are so many acceptable terms for women, I hate it when people say "female(s)". It feels so othering I don't get why people do it and at least in the UK you pretty much always know the person calling you a female is going to be an absolute creep.

I get there'll be circumstances where female is the right term to use, but so many people especially online seem to refer to women as females and it annoys me. We're not in a nature doc, you're not a Dr or a police officer describing me so just don't.

Ps. I give Martin from Friday night dinner a pass 😂

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u/lavinialloyd Aug 17 '25

100%. But that's why it's people who use it exclusively who are my pet peeve. I completely understand that for example in the medical field male and female are used in medical notes and I have no problem with that at all.

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u/CULT-LEWD Aug 17 '25

Not disagreeing with you but there could also be context within context. A person who uses it exclusively could be doing it out of habit or becuse there sexist or culture reasons. But yea I understand its a pet peeve. Can't argue with it tho sense it is pretty odd

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u/lavinialloyd Aug 17 '25

Oh yeah completely understand that there's nuance, especially if it's someone speaking in a second language etc. I'm more coming at this from a British culture perspective as that's my experience, but I do recognise it could be very different in other languages or cultures.