Ladies Instead of Women

Is the "Sugar and Spice" nonsense why women are widely called "ladies' instead of women?

by Carol Harrison, Bracebridge Ontario, Canada

December 25, 2006

Everywhere I go, adult females are rarely called women...they're "ladies" and myself, I cringe when I hear the term. Ladies, as defined in the Oxford Canadian dictionary, Katherine Barber, editor-in-chief, is a socially acceptable behaviour, while woman is defined as...an adult female.

There is then, a definitive difference between calling an adult female a woman over a lady. There's a feeling of less than equality with this term. I wonder even if people who refer to women as ladies, know the difference between the two words, or...would a woman herself, say that "I never thought of that way before!"

I've been indirectly referred to as a lady, girl and "guy" which is as generic as mankind in a patriarchal way. Tell someone you're a woman and they look at you like you're speaking in a strange language.

I wish we lived in a much more socially equal society.

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