girl/young woman/woman

maryqwerty

hi everyone,

i'm interested to see the age difference between girls/young women and women.
at what age do u stop calling someone a girl and begin calling them a young woman? and then when you start calling them a young woman, when do you start calling them a woman?

just always been curious about this.. like if you were describing a 26 year old... which would you call her?

Chuchoter

Girl up to 19-21 depending on how young or old they looked
Young woman up to thirty, woman after that

convert

I absolutely detest the word 'woman' - I don't know why, but for me it implies either unrefined ladies, a very old lady or a group of nosey, interfering oul biddies!

Therefore I much prefer the term 'lady' as it suggests a more refined and classier person (in a good way, not in a snobby way that suggests class distinction.

However, getting back on topic, I'd describe someone as a girl in their early 20s, maybe 22 or 23 and then a lady up to their mid to late 40s. My choices of age, here, probably shows that I really don't like to think I'm growing old!

odonopenmic

This is going to sound like I'm going off on one but I'm 28. I'm not a girl and take exception to being compared with a 5 year old. It genuinely does my head in and I hear it all the time. Men in the office describing women in their 50s as girls!! Ridiculous!

dresstoimpress

odonopenmic wrote: »

This is going to sound like I'm going off on one but I'm 28. I'm not a girl and take exception to being compared with a 5 year old. It genuinely does my head in and I hear it all the time. Men in the office describing women in their 50s as girls!! Ridiculous!

Thats funny. I'm the complete opposite. I'm the same age as you and always used the terms "boys and girls" for people my own age!! I would call myself a girl, definitely not a woman!!
I think it depends on the situation, and your attitude, where you draw the line.
For example you can call a lady of 20 a girl, but if its in a condescending manner, it wouldn't be appreciated by the girl in question. While on the otherside you could call a lady of 35 a girl, but in a friendly way, that would be appreciated as flattery, by that girl in question, if that makes any sense???

By the way, all strangers are Lady's to me, whatever their age. I think that's just manners.

baby and crumble

They can all be used in different situations by different people. I mean, if I'm meeting up with my female friends I'll often say I'm meeting the girls, whereas I am a woman, I'm 28, I'm not a girl. And certainly not a 'good girl', god I HATE when someone says that.

If I had to put 'ages' I'd say 0-14/15 for 'girl', 14/15- 18/19 for young woman and woman after that. But I don't think it's that easy.

OldGoat

OP, this thread has little to do with Fashion and Appearance so I've moved it over to The Ladies Lounge where you should get a better response.

/Waves to the nice mods of tLL.

princess-lala

I'm 25 and still like being called a girl

AnnyHallsal

It irks me when women in their late thirties or whatever (Sex and the City I'm looking at you) refer to themselves as girls. It's pathetic. You're a woman goddamnit. If you're too old for pigtails and a hello kitty schoolbag you're no longer a girl.

Sometimes I'll say boy/girl when I mean male/female e.g. "well you're a boy" but for actually referring to men or women I can't think, what do I say...
girls or lads actually I can't think what age limit I would cut that off at though

WindSock

Woman or lady does me fine, although I am rarely the latter :pac:

I do dislike being called girl but I guess it is easier to say sometimes. Girl conjures up sweet, innocent and harmless. Woman is more, I don't know...what someone would refer to as an adult, that can think for and fend for themselves perhaps.
That's probably why some people use it as an insult too. 'Shut up, woman....' is like a direction to a person to know their place due to their gender. Whereas the insult of being called 'Girly' means weak or pansy-like, a girl is non-threatening. Same with 'bird' I guess. Pretty and dumb.


We don't seem to have an all round inoffensive name to describe us though, like lads and guys.

I wonder do guys/lads/men who say girls often only refer to their Mothers as women? Like, perhaps they don't want to associate other females with their mother or something like that.

iguana

It's about context. People nowadays use "girls" and "boys" with regard to adults to infer affection, belonging and/or light-heartedness. For example if someone was telling me a story about something that happened at work and they said they were with the "girls they work with," it gives the impression the have a close, friendly relationship. If however they referred to the "women they work with" I'd assume that they were just colleagues.

Likewise if someone says they are having a "boys night" it implies they plan on having a laugh. However if they say they are going out with some "men they know" from somewhere, it sounds like a more serious occasion or the beginnings of a tentative, potential friendship.

In this context it's nothing at all to do with age. I've heard plenty of elderly people refer collectively to their group of friends as girls/boys. Sometimes adding old to the front. "Us old boys."

OldGoat

I would also say that the age difference between people is a factor. Oul folk like me can call 40 year old women 'Girls' without raising any eyebrows.

I tend to use 'girl', 'woman', 'lady' interchangeably anyway, irrespective of the woman's age. It's dependent on context, circumstances and the mood I'm trying to set.

Delicate_Dlite

I'm really not sure. I'm 22, and have now started to be refered to as a woman.:(. not liking it at all. I really don't class myself as one, more down to my maturity and lack of achievments.

At 22, my mother had a career, house, husband and child and I think of her at that point as a woman, but I lack... well anything, still a student. So I see it as a reminder that I should have achieved something by now.

I also use the term lady more than often, girl occasionally, and woman if I'm refering to an older female.

I have started to try to stop refering to my males as boys, and call them men. It'll take a long time before it comes naturally.:o

metrovelvet

princess-lala wrote: »

I'm 25 and still like being called a girl

When I was 25 and flew on aer lingus I was mistaken for an unaccompanied minor [a girl].

Over 18 and you're a woman.

Black Swan

The older we get, the more you forget!

ruahead

I don't know. I think lady is polite. I hear strangers refer to me as that, girl is condescending from strangers.
I don't think I look like a woman even though I'm 30. It conjures up images of someone older. I'd say young woman is right up till about late thirties.
Hard to say some people look older than they are, some look youngish even if they are 40.
Over 18 I'd say we are women though just don't like to be called it!

rebel girl 15

Don't know about the rest of the country but girl is used quite often in Cork, especially in the city in conversation, no matter what the age, e.g thanks a million for that, girl. I know that it is used that way, but for some people they might find being called girl offensive.

It does depend on what age you are though in my opinion. I kinda use girls and boys like some other poster mentioned, rather than men and women. Doesn't bother me either way

Lia_lia

All I can think of is that stupid Britney Spears song.

I'd usually call anyone under 25/26 a girl.

Morgase

I know I'm bound to be alone in this but I hate being called a lady. To me, a lady is a woman of a particular social class who is accomplished in music, languages and needlework. A woman pulled from a Jane Austen novel in other words!

I don't mind "girl" or "woman" but as was said before, it all depends on context. Some people say "girl" and you couldn't be offended by it; then others will just make your skin crawl the way they say it.

When I was growing up my dad would call me "young miss" or "miss" particularly when I was being bold. I really hated that one; drove me nuts!

IrishEyes19

Young woman up to thirty for me. I'm only 19...20 in a few weeks, so young woman or girl doesn't bother me.

Dudess

Not really an easy question to answer as it's all relative and dependent on context. There's no set point at which each category begins. I personally don't care which of them I'm referred to as.

peggie

i probably call people girl without realising its not appropriate, as in the girl who does my hair or the girl i go to for facials although both are well over 25

i often hear older dentists call their nurses the girls even if they are old enough to be grandmothers, its a throwback but one i commonly hear

lastly i'd like to say i hate being called mam in restaurants, i'm a miss in my own mind even though i'm over 30, i'm not married -(yet, will be in december) and i don't wear an engagement ring so i feel i should be called miss- bugs me so much i often pretend not to hear!

metrovelvet

I cant stand the terms "girly nights in" and "girly nights out".

iguana

peggie wrote: »

lastly i'd like to say i hate being called mam in restaurants, i'm a miss in my own mind even though i'm over 30, i'm not married -(yet, will be in december) and i don't wear an engagement ring so i feel i should be called miss- bugs me so much i often pretend not to hear!

Ma'am means Ms or 'my lady' it doesn't signify marital status. It's just a polite way of talking to a woman you don't know, the female equivalent of sir.

Faith

I got called Ma'am in a posh café a while back. I didn't appreciate it at all. It might be polite, but it made me feel about 50.

AnnyHallsal

There's something insidious about not wanting to be called a woman, or insisting you're still a girl. Boys can't wait to be called men! I'm all for the woman, womanly .. womanliness ..

Permabear

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Permabear

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Aoifums

I call everyone girl. My granny is from Galway and she still refers to her daughters as girls. And they are all over 45. My mam picked it up from her and I picked it up from my mam.

Woman sounds stuffy! Young woman is awkward to say. Lady signifies refinement or something like that in my mind. Something which I'm lacking so I hate being called a lady

Aoifums

Aoifums wrote: »

I call everyone girl. My granny is from Galway and she still refers to her daughters as girls. And they are all over 45. My mam picked it up from her and I picked it up from my mam.

Woman sounds stuffy! Young woman is awkward to say. Lady signifies refinement or something like that in my mind. Something which I'm lacking so I hate being called a lady

I think grannies are different. I'm by far the eldest grandchild, the other two are under 2 years, but I'm still always "the baby" :rolleyes:

Dudess

But it really seems to depend on the age of the person who's doing the addressing - I heard my 93-year-old gran recently say to her son-in-law (aged 55): "Would you ever close the door there like a good boy"...
She also referred to a friend of hers' grand-daughter (in her 30s) as a "lovely little girl" :pac: so I think it's totally subjective. It may seem condescending etc of her but she's not like that - it's genuinely just how she sees things. I even find myself (early 30s) referring to some (I emphasise "some") people in their late teens/early 20s now as "kids". I don't mean to seem like a patronising old fogey who's "seen it all" (I'm actually a right big kid myself :pac:) but I just end up saying it without thinking/meaning anything by it, as there is a considerable age gap between me and them. And even though I'm 32, I get referred to by strangers most of the time as "the girl" rather than "the woman"/"the lady" - by people of any age group. I think a lot of it comes down to how a person carries themselves too, rather than it simply being a question of age. In the West, life has extended, and thus youth has extended - maybe not physically, although our quality of life ensures that a 40-year-old here is generally far more youthful than a 40-year-old in e.g. Sierra Leone. Culturally, youth has certainly extended.

I agree with what Faith said too though re "ma'am" - it may be the type of lingo required for posh establishments, but jeez, it just makes me cringe! Overkill IMO - I don't get how they think any young or youngish woman would appreciate it. My mother is 63 and I know she certainly wouldn't!

WesternNight

I'm 25, and in the last year or two I've started hearing myself referred to as "lady" or "woman" rather than "girl". I'm not exactly sure what happened to me in the last couple of years to warrant the change, but apparently something has. Oh, and on the phone I'm called "madam" now too

I'd tend to refer to those my age and younger as girls, but maybe that's just because it makes me feel old to refer to them as anything else. "lady" in particular I associate with older women for some reason.

Mind you, elderly women still refer to me as a girl...and "pet" and "lovee" for that matter

vicecreamsundae

i'm 25 and refer to women my age as girls. i'd probably use the term woman for someone who looks over the age of 40 or so.
in casual settings i like being called girl and apply it to myself. it is simply a case that i think woman sounds old and grown up and boring. i dont wear suits, i dont buy expensive handbags, i dont go to hair salons, or have children or a mortgage and i just feel like girl suits me. i refer to males my age as boys/guys, and it's the same thing... a man sounds like someone with a tie and grey hair.

but in a professional/formal setting i would identify myself as a woman/young woman, and would NOT appreciate an authority type referring to me as a "girl" or young "lady".

rebel10

I'm 28, would refer to myself as a girl and all my female friends around my age, i don't think i would refer to a male friend as a "boy" who is around my age, not sure what i do. Also i think its a regional thing. Down here we could call someone who is nearing 50 a girl.
One thing that does annoy me is when someone who i don't know calls me a girl. E.g. On a plane last year, lady and her young son sitting behind me. Son starts kicking the back of my seat and the mother says "stop or the girl will give out to you." I look young for my age but certainly not younger than 24/25.
I hate when men in their 40's/50's call you a girl, creeps me out a little.

solovely

I'm 30 and I hate being referred to as a lady or a woman....definitely see myself as a girl. Only came to the front recently when my car broke down on the motorway and these 3 guys in their early 20s came to my rescue. They weren't able to fix the car so rang the breakdown people and said "We have a woman here with a broken down car".....and I was so insulted!! Silly I know, but I just felt ancient (it was also 2 weeks after my 30th and I was feeling pretty old anyway).

shellyboo

I'm more surprised than anything when someone refers to me as a woman or a lady, in my head I feel like I'm still pretty immature! Doesn't offend me though, you can't expect people to tiptoe around your personal preference and sensitivities.

For the most part, I think it's better to err on the side of "lady/woman" rather than "girl" for an actual adult female. Less chance of offense.