3 ms·
It always frustrates me that "girly" is considered bad in some way while "manly" is considered good. It's truly unfortunate that there aren't "boyly" and "woma
by mikekchar 7y ago
It always frustrates me that "girly" is considered bad in some way while "manly" is considered good. It's truly unfortunate that there aren't "boyly" and "womanly" adjectives.... We suffer from our sexist past by refusing to allow that cute, sparkly, pink, whatever is absolutely wonderful. That more girls prefer it than boys is... irrelevant, I think. Perhaps I'm missing an important point, but if I am, I'm missing it by a country mile.
- dTal 7y ago> It's truly unfortunate that there aren't "boyly" and "womanly" adjectives ...there are? "Boyish" and "ladylike" (or, indeed, "womanly") are the words you're looking for.
- ksaj 7y agoCalling a girl "boyish" does seem to have a different level of impact than calling a boy "girlish." But I've also heard "guyish" and "typical man" used to mean boorish, lazy or stupid. "Typical woman" creates about the same level of offense in that case, and has equally well established definitions. I suspect at the end of the day, this form of sexism probably balances out in both directions, but with clear bias in specific cases depending on the audience.