This is the real deal. We're all doing it right now.

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I'm not a dude, my gender is literally in my username.
- Dude is not gender specific, you moron. Unisex terms are suitable for any type of sex. Including your insane bug-sex.
  
  Well, you're wrong and I don't like you, but somehow I'm still happy that at least someone is acknowledging my gender. Even if they hate it, I'm just glad it's not being dismissed as not my actual sex. I'm happier being told my gender is insane than that I have no gender. So thank you.
  
  I'm not wrong though. "Dude" is now also used as a unisex term. It's not the 60s anymore.
  Unisex is an adjective indicating something is not sex-specific.
  
  So in your opinion, you can hurt someone's feelings and not apologise if that person doesn't share your opinions on linguistics?
  
  Any hurting of feelings spanning from not knowing what a word means is your own responsibility.
  I nor anyone else can be responsible for problems in your understanding of modern English. Not in the slightest.
  Simply, you have a misconception about the word, not an opinion.
  You are, of course, welcome to come with any arbitrary definitions for common words, but doing so will just make communication with others more difficult. Still doesn't make them "linguistic opinions". It's language, which evolves constantly, whether you acknowledge the fact or not.
  
  That's a whole lot of words to say yes. Very inefficient.
  
  The exact opposite. I reckon the issue is that you don't understand what you read.
  There's nothing to apologise, when the hurt stems from not understanding what you read.
  
  Well, now that you've stated you think words are more important than people, let's examine the word.
  https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/282694/is-dude-becoming-gender-neutral
  https://www.wiley.com/en-us/network/education/instructors/teaching-strategies/im-not-your-guy-dude-why-language-really-does-matter
  https://www.ncl.ac.uk/who-we-are/equality/language-inclusivity/gender-inclusive/
  https://medium.com/@transstyleguide/dont-call-me-dude-i-m-not-a-bro-af69e7d2bd64
  https://www.dictionary.com/e/you-guys/
  https://www.fastcompany.com/90629391/guys-is-not-gender-neutral-lets-stop-using-it-like-it-is
  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gendered-language-hey-guys_l_5f21b189c5b6b8cd63b0f331
  TL;DR: The words "dude" and "guy" can be used in a gender neutral way, and they can be used in a male-gendered way. This is often a dialectical difference in the way diverse regions and cultures use language. The movement towards using "dude" as gender neutral is sexist, as it aims to transform maleness into the default. This movement has not entirely succeeded, many regions and individuals do not accept its change. There are non-sexist gender neutral terms available. You cannot control how someone else will hear your words, because on Lemmy you speak to people all over the world. The word is especially harmful to trans people like myself. Even if you were right that all modern use of the term were gender neutral (you are not), human beings have memories and you cannot ignore history.

55 comments