Ladies At The “Big E”

[Carnac]

View attachment 69978 View attachment 69979

Boy, what a "photo op" for any UConn fan lucky enough to be there when the team was there.

 

[AmeriConn]

Whaddaya think? Our ladies have been together for a whole month now. Do you think they have had enough time to form a tight bond? How long does it take for a team to bond?

Query: Has the Boneyard settled on the "appropriate" or acceptable word we can use to to refer to our team? i.e., girls, ladies or women?

Good question Carnac. I don't think any of us want to offend the team or anyone on The BY. They refer to themselves as girls, so why not girls.

 

[Goodgood]

Good question Carnac. I don't think any of us want to offend the team or anyone on The BY. They refer to themselves as girls, so why not girls.

Agree. When they get to the WNBA, they can be women and ladies for the rest of their lives....

 

[Carnac]

Good question Carnac. I don't think any of us want to offend the team or anyone on The BY. They refer to themselves as girls, so why not girls.

To me, because I respect and revere each and every member of this team, any word I use in reference to them (in my mind) is respectful when used in a comment. I hold each and every one of them in very high esteem. There are a few posters here that think the term "girls" or "ladies" is somehow disrespectful, and should not be used.

I'm NOT going to bite on THAT argument. I really don't care what others think about that. It's something I never would have thought about until someone raised the question. So, to avoid any argument, I will go along with the consensus term the yard settles on. It's not a big deal to me. In my opinion, we've got bigger fish to fry.

 

[PacoSwede]

ya know, men of any age (excepting when there are racial implications) can be referred to as 'boys' in a casual context and nobody (i hope) is going to give it a second thought. ... but if some women are offended by the use of the term 'girls,' so be it. ... (just curious -- when does a 'girl' no longer qualify as such?)

imo, 'guys' has long ago ceased being strictly masculine

and where does all this mess leave the 'non-binary' folks?

 

[D J B]

imo, 'guys' has long ago ceased being strictly masculine

Geno refers to the team as guys all the time.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Geno refers to the team as guys all the time.

Many years ago Geno explained his coaching philisophy, part of which was he did not look at his players as females, but ball players and he made demands upon them as ball players without regard to gender.

 

[phil sampieri]

The word to ‘ladies’ in reference to women in sports irritates me to no end. It is an antiquated term that implies social status and behavior. You’d never see a headline that says ‘Gentlemen at the Big E’. I know that much of this board consists of older males that don’t find gendered language disturbing, but as a woman who fought through years of inequality, it’s just something I can live without.

Old buggier has been calling them my girls and I only have a grandpas affection for each and every one of them. So sue me.

 

[Argonaut]

As a general rule of thumb, if you're not part of their inner-circle and know it's okay, don't call any adult woman "girl."

It's perfectly acceptable for an adult male to call his daughters, granddaughters, or other close, younger relatives "my girls," but that comes with having that level of familiarity. Same thing when women call their close friends their "girls."

Same rules apply when being careful about calling adult males, "boy," which can give off the nasty impression that you're talking down to someone (and, historically, calling and adult "boy" has racist roots).

And @Puppy Love is right that "ladies" is antiquated and largely just alludes to a type of behavior expected of women.

Call them women, young women, the team, Huskies, or by their names...

For the most part, context is everything. If you say, "Man, I love these girls," it's pretty obvious that you're not trying to be condescending. But if you say, "Man, I love this team," you're getting the same message across, but you don't have to leave it to someone to interpret.

 

[Littlemin]

John Cleese in one of the Monty Python reunion get togethers on Netflix has a very insightful comment on how the “modern“ world can’t even begin to solve major conflicts around the world, Syria to be specific to his comment, but can police language down to being offended by a single word. My mother, who raised 12 children on my fathers hard working single salary and then taught special needs children as a volunteer for 15 years after we all grew up, wore the title of “lady” with pride and as a show of respect, which is exactly how I thought the person who started the thread used the term. Just my opinion, but I find it sad someone chose to look on the use of the word in the context it was presented as an offensive term.

 

[Argonaut]

John Cleese in one of the Monty Python reunion get togethers on Netflix has a very insightful comment on how the “modern“ world can’t even begin to solve major conflicts around the world, Syria to be specific to his comment, but can police language down to being offended by a single word. My mother, who raised 12 children on my fathers hard working single salary and then taught special needs children as a volunteer for 15 years after we all grew up, wore the title of “lady” with pride and as a show of respect, which is exactly how I thought the person who started the thread used the term. Just my opinion, but I find it sad someone chose to look on the use of the word in the context it was presented as an offensive term.

For the most part, calling someone a “lady” isn’t offensive — it’s outdated and, for the most part, has a history that we’ve culturally outgrown.

If you look up lady in the dictionary, the first two definitions revolve around behavior and class. Why are either relevant when you’re talking about your favorite basketball team? For a lot of women of a certain age, the emphasis was always on being ladylike. If my behavior doesn’t fall into that category, the message then becomes, “Who you naturally are is unacceptable.”

As a woman who isn’t of a certain age, I know I’m not “ladylike” and it’s not something I am or I aspire to be. And I know there are many other women who feel the same way.

Am I offended when a student I don’t know well refers to me as “the lady in the library”? No, because I know it’s about intent and context. But there are also four other women who have their offices in my library. Would it be more accurate if that student referred to me by name? Absolutely.

 

[Littlemin]

For the most part, calling someone a “lady” isn’t offensive — it’s outdated and, for the most part, has a history that we’ve culturally outgrown.

If you look up lady in the dictionary, the first two definitions revolve around behavior and class. Why are either relevant when you’re talking about your favorite basketball team? For a lot of women of a certain age, the emphasis was always on being ladylike. If my behavior doesn’t fall into that category, the message then becomes, “Who you naturally are is unacceptable.”

As a woman who isn’t of a certain age, I know I’m not “ladylike” and it’s not something I am or I aspire to be. And I know there are many other women who feel the same way.

Am I offended when a student I don’t know well refers to me as “the lady in the library”? No, because I know it’s about intent and context. But there are also four other women who have their offices in my library. Would it be more accurate if that student referred to me by name? Absolutely.

Everything should be about intent and context, and I hardly think the intent of the use of the word in the thread title had anything to do with dictionary definitions or to demean or belittle anyone. As for your not being or aspiring to be “ladylike” as you define the term, by all means that is your prerogative, I am passionately in favor of everyone being true to themselves. But IMO, anyone being offended by the word in the context used in the title says way more about them than it does the thread starter. My last word on the subject.

 

[Argonaut]

Everything should be about intent and context, and I hardly think the intent of the use of the word in the thread title had anything to do with dictionary definitions or to demean or belittle anyone. As for your not being or aspiring to be “ladylike” as you define the term, by all means that is your prerogative, I am passionately in favor of everyone being true to themselves. But IMO, anyone being offended by the word in the context used in the title says way more about them than it does the thread starter. My last word on the subject.

I don’t think anyone said they were offended by the term, but a couple of us women have said why we don’t think it’s the best wording to use and why. Nothing wrong with that.

I think we should celebrate the fact that there was actual conversation about it with no one getting into a pissing match. Sounds like a good day for the BY to me.

 

[TB12]

Wow I thought Argonaut was a man, boy, guy

 

[D J B]

Wow I thought Argonaut was a man, boy, guy

I think the word you are searching for is huminoid. It's gender non-specific.

 

[D J B]

I think the word you are searching for is huminoid. It's gender non-specific.

^humanoid. My bad. It's midnight. Friday. Vampires. You know what I mean. Right? Help me out here.

 

[Zarathustra]

GREAT STUFF!! Tremendous!! " mirabile visu " and wonderful to hear!
I love this music and the aphorisms / etc. of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844 -1900).
Nietzsche is a (often) misunderstood man. Strauss a powerful composer. THANKS Z

 

[Skeets]

The song "Don't touch this" goes through my mind when reading this thread...

 

[Vowelguy]

Context doesn’t matter. History does. For decades if not centuries, “girls” has been used to downplay and degrade women’s accomplishments.

 

[Blakeon18]

Vowel: If context does not matter then I assume you are [strongly?] opposed to the young women on the team describing their teammates in such fashion. Perhaps enough that as part of their media education by the staff [CD?] there should be a rule against the use?

 

[Vowelguy]

Vowel: If context does not matter then I assume you are [strongly?] opposed to the young women on the team describing their teammates in such fashion. Perhaps enough that as part of their media education by the staff [CD?] there should be a rule against the use?

Is it even remotely possible that word choices matter and that old white men might not be the best judges of what is and isn’t appropriate to csll women? Is that conceivable at all?

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Whaddaya think? Our ladies have been together for a whole month now. Do you think they have had enough time to form a tight bond? How long does it take for a team to bond?

Query: Has the Boneyard settled on the "appropriate" or acceptable word we can use to to refer to our team? i.e., girls, ladies or women?

Well, when Paige accepted the trophy for AP Player of the Year she addressed her team: "I know I love you guys and none of this would be possible without you guys and Coach...."

 

[Bigboote]

I think the word you are searching for is huminoid. It's gender non-specific.

This discussion took me back to the original Star Trek episode in which an alien referred to people as “carbon-based units.”

 

[Blakeon18]

Vowel: of course word choices matter...and certainly 'old white men' might not be the best judges.
I do not think I suggested otherwise. I just asked a question about 'context'...specifically if the speaker of the word choices made a difference. i.e old white men/young women players/etcetc. You indicated that 'context' did not matter.
I think it IS a factor on issues like this.

 

[AmeriConn]

Everything should be about intent and context, and I hardly think the intent of the use of the word in the thread title had anything to do with dictionary definitions or to demean or belittle anyone. As for your not being or aspiring to be “ladylike” as you define the term, by all means that is your prerogative, I am passionately in favor of everyone being true to themselves. But IMO, anyone being offended by the word in the context used in the title says way more about them than it does the thread starter. My last word on the subject.

Well said Littlemin!