8 ms·

Okay I'm genuinely curious why "mail lady" wouldn't fly today. ...why not?

njharman 6y ago
Because of cancel culture. Out of millions of voices it only takes is 1 or 2 loud ones to be offended (really, mistakingly, or maliciously) for the bandwagon of ostracism to get rollin.
- briandear 6y ago
  Not sure why this is downvoted. It’s a fact.
  - njharman 6y ago
    Downvoted because of the fact. That is "the bandwagon of ostracism" is a rollin!
patrickyeon 6y ago
Gendered terms are becoming less popular to describe people in situations where their gender doesn't matter. So we might say "mail person" or "mail carrier", the same as we say "firefighter" instead of "fireman". It's not "cancel culture" as the sibling comment suggests; it's rarely people being outraged about imagined attacks. It's just language evolving as society evolves. As an added bonus, sticking with non-gendered terms means you don't accidentally insult someone by assuming something based on their body type or haircut, and it leaves space for non-binary or non-conforming people to not be accidentally made to feel unwelcome.
- asquabventured 6y ago
  I'd like to unsubscribe from this alternative reality of the world please.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    Why do you have a problem with this "alternative" reality?
    - creato 6y ago
      It's annoying to have to constantly wonder if I'm saying something offensive when I absolutely do not intend that. In this case, I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with "mail lady" and might have said the same thing if my mail carrier were a woman (which she is). Now I read this thread and realize that some people would think it is a problem. This cultural wave of making seemingly harmless language into problems is one more barrier to speaking anything at all unless I'm talking to people I know well.
      - tolbish 6y ago
        It's not that the term "mail lady" offends anyone. It doesn't. The point is that singling out her gender is needless, and kinda seems a bit strange if gender was never really pertinent to the story in the first place. "Cancel culture" would be going through high school recommended reading lists and removing books that focused "wrongly" on gender or something.
        Evidlo 6y ago
        > It's not that the term "mail lady" offends anyone. It doesn't. I think that's too generous. I've definitely met people who just enjoy feeling indignation at anything.
        CathedralBorrow 6y ago
        Funny; since you are right now bringing up this group of people to express indignation towards their behavior.
        Rule35 6y ago
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- xioxox 6y ago
  The US should take up the nice UK gender-neutral term of Postie.
drewzero1 6y ago
Probably just because of the gendered noun? "Mailman" and "mail lady" having been replaced in general use by the non-gendered "mail carrier" or "postal worker."
- lordloki 6y ago
  I just call them all Clavins.
briandear 6y ago
Because people are so ultra-woke that the term would trigger people. Remember, we are in a time when the term “master branch” is considered offensive.

Because of cancel culture. Out of millions of voices it only takes is 1 or 2 loud ones to be offended (really, mistakingly, or maliciously) for the bandwagon of ostracism to get rollin.

briandear 6y ago
Not sure why this is downvoted. It’s a fact.
- njharman 6y ago
  Downvoted because of the fact. That is "the bandwagon of ostracism" is a rollin!

patrickyeon 6y ago

Gendered terms are becoming less popular to describe people in situations where their gender doesn't matter. So we might say "mail person" or "mail carrier", the same as we say "firefighter" instead of "fireman". It's not "cancel culture" as the sibling comment suggests; it's rarely people being outraged about imagined attacks. It's just language evolving as society evolves. As an added bonus, sticking with non-gendered terms means you don't accidentally insult someone by assuming something based on their body type or haircut, and it leaves space for non-binary or non-conforming people to not be accidentally made to feel unwelcome.

asquabventured 6y ago
I'd like to unsubscribe from this alternative reality of the world please.
- anoncake 6y ago
  Why do you have a problem with this "alternative" reality?
  - creato 6y ago
    It's annoying to have to constantly wonder if I'm saying something offensive when I absolutely do not intend that. In this case, I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong with "mail lady" and might have said the same thing if my mail carrier were a woman (which she is). Now I read this thread and realize that some people would think it is a problem. This cultural wave of making seemingly harmless language into problems is one more barrier to speaking anything at all unless I'm talking to people I know well.
    - tolbish 6y ago
      It's not that the term "mail lady" offends anyone. It doesn't. The point is that singling out her gender is needless, and kinda seems a bit strange if gender was never really pertinent to the story in the first place. "Cancel culture" would be going through high school recommended reading lists and removing books that focused "wrongly" on gender or something.
      - Evidlo 6y ago
        > It's not that the term "mail lady" offends anyone. It doesn't. I think that's too generous. I've definitely met people who just enjoy feeling indignation at anything.
        CathedralBorrow 6y ago
        Funny; since you are right now bringing up this group of people to express indignation towards their behavior.
        Rule35 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
xioxox 6y ago
The US should take up the nice UK gender-neutral term of Postie.

drewzero1 6y ago

Probably just because of the gendered noun? "Mailman" and "mail lady" having been replaced in general use by the non-gendered "mail carrier" or "postal worker."

lordloki 6y ago
I just call them all Clavins.

briandear 6y ago

Because people are so ultra-woke that the term would trigger people. Remember, we are in a time when the term “master branch” is considered offensive.