What age do you have to be to be called a woman or a man???

SarahChambers · 23-08-2009 4:52pm #1

I a 18 and I think that I am a young woman but people keep calling me a girl. Other people I know say that they dont think they are a old enough to be called a man or woman even though they are over 18? So if you aren't a woman when you are 18 what age do you have to be???

phasers · 23-08-2009 4:54pm

I've been called a lady since I was 14

brummytom · 23-08-2009 4:57pm

I get called all sorts... mainly abuse.

I find 'young man' the most irksome to be honest. 'Man' I'm fine with, 'boy' or 'child' I'm fine with, as I am one.
But 'young man' implies that, although old enough to be considered a 'man' I'm still childish - I don't like it

Kiera · 23-08-2009 4:57pm

Ladyboy, phasers. Ladyboy.

UrbanSea · 23-08-2009 4:58pm

I was a woman until I was 24,ever since then I have been a man

DanGerMus · 23-08-2009 4:59pm

When your old enough not to give a **** because you've got more important things to do and worry about than what one person or another refers to you as.

citizen_p · 23-08-2009 5:02pm

over 20....but depends on who calls you it..if a 80 year old cals you a kid its understandable

My name is URL · 23-08-2009 5:04pm

You stop being a kid when you've had an adequate number of life experiences, both good and bad, and dealt with them

Age is subjective

23-08-2009 5:06pm

when you post a thread on AH

fintonie · 23-08-2009 5:08pm

brummytom wrote: »

I get called all sorts... mainly abuse.

I find 'young man' the most irksome to be honest. 'Man' I'm fine with, 'boy' or 'child' I'm fine with, as I am one.
But 'young man' implies that, although old enough to be considered a 'man' I'm still childish - I don't like it

very childish reply young man:)

SarahChambers · 23-08-2009 5:12pm

Mousey- wrote: »

over 20....but depends on who calls you it..if a 80 year old cals you a kid its understandable

Is that actually it? I some people over 20 who get called girls too, but I guess you might be right. Sometimes I just want to be taken more seriously. I know a lot of people look down on me because of the way I live but I still think i deserve enough respect to be called a woman. I don't know why this matters to me so much but it is just really getting me down lately sorry.

TheCardHolder · 23-08-2009 5:14pm

I'm currently a 'youngfella'.

MagicMarker · 23-08-2009 5:18pm

Some may not agree with me, but an 18 year old is still a kid imo.

Nichololas · 23-08-2009 5:24pm

In the newspapers, it's 18.

Other than that, there's no specific age - it depends on YOU. There are plenty of 24 year old manchildren and immature females.

Dudess · 23-08-2009 5:32pm

SarahChambers wrote: »

I a 18 and I think that I am a young woman but people keep calling me a girl. Other people I know say that they dont think they are a old enough to be called a man or woman even though they are over 18? So if you aren't a woman when you are 18 what age do you have to be???

No specific age - it depends on the person and also on who is doing the referring to them. A 70-year-old will probably refer to a 40-year-old woman as a girl.
Generally speaking though, I don't think it starts for anyone until about the late 20s.

grenache · 23-08-2009 5:33pm

I think its a physical thing rather than a mental thing. If a man/woman are fully physically developed, with no more growing left to do and hair in the various places, then is it safe to call them a man or a woman

Dudess · 23-08-2009 5:36pm

Calling a 19-year-old guy in a hoodie a "man" would be just weird.

Whispered · 23-08-2009 5:37pm

I think it depends on the person, their attitudes, their way of dealing with things, they way they speak and the things they speak about, their ability to think independantly, the experiences they have had in life, etc

fintonie · 23-08-2009 5:38pm

maturity is what it boils down to me thinks,

if you look at all those kids in India losing there parents at a very young age the eldest child has to bring the rest of her or his siblings up,

it could be any age from 9 upwards, its not so long ago in Ireland this was also the case.

ottostreet · 23-08-2009 5:53pm

im not a man.
im not a boy.

i am a lad.

based on local vocabulary anyway.

Davidius · 23-08-2009 6:17pm

I'm 18 next week and then I will insist everybody call me a man.

Nevermind the fact that I still have acne, barely any facial hair and having people ask if I'm over 16 regularly. :pac:

Rippy · 23-08-2009 9:21pm

brummytom wrote: »

I get called all sorts... mainly abuse.

I find 'young man' the most irksome to be honest. 'Man' I'm fine with, 'boy' or 'child' I'm fine with, as I am one.
But 'young man' implies that, although old enough to be considered a 'man' I'm still childish - I don't like it

I get called 'young man' occaisionally by old folk and hate it cos im 43.:D

Jeebus · 23-08-2009 9:29pm

I have always grown up a woman, but now the athletics association is saying I could be a man !

Adamcp898 · 23-08-2009 9:29pm

ottostreet wrote: »

im not a man.
im not a boy.

i am a lad.

based on local vocabulary anyway.

Alright lawd

Corkfeen · 23-08-2009 10:45pm

Its a physical thing when your called a man but your not really a man until you reach a certain maturity, independence etc.

rubadub · 23-08-2009 10:49pm

SarahChambers wrote: »

I a 18 and I think that I am a young woman but people keep calling me a girl.

I would think it strange if people called you a woman in every situation, it does depend on who it is and in what context.

Has anybody else had awkward situations wondering what to call somebody? or where it was more awkward for the person wondering what they should call you. e.g. say a kid drops something and you pick it up and hand it to their mother, and the mother then says to the kid "say thank you to the man", but she is looking at you beforehand not knowing what to call you! obviously this is more applicable for people 18 or in their 20's.

Then you would also hear managers in work referring to "the girls in the office", it is a sort of fine line whether they are offended or complimented at being called "girls". With men it is less dodgy ground, just "the lads", or "alright men"

I suppose the cross over terms are lady and lad or guy(s)

Latchy · 23-08-2009 10:51pm

Dudess wrote: »

No specific age - it depends on the person and also on who is doing the referring to them. A

70-year-old will probably refer to a 40-year-old woman as a girl.

Generally speaking though, I don't think it starts for anyone until about the late 20s.

That's me except in my case as a man and I take it as a comlement when a 50 year old refers to me ie, ' Hiya Lad '

Ickle Magoo · 23-08-2009 11:24pm

Yeah, mid to late 20's...around the same time you are delighted if someone refers to you as "girl","boy" or "young wan", ironically enough.

karlog · 23-08-2009 11:25pm

age is a state of mind

mad_physist · 23-08-2009 11:27pm

Im 18 too and look older than my age, but i feel rather uncomfortable when i'm called a man, i don't excatly feel very old!

yoppo · 23-08-2009 11:30pm

Im nearly 24 but look like im 17 so Ill probably be a young man for a few more years!

Kevin Bacon · 24-08-2009 12:54am

You are a man when young little shams outside shops come up to you and say,

"Here mister, will ya buy me some fags?!"

Happened to me for the first time when i was nineteen...:(

(on i slight tangent i didnt buy them for him but bought myself some, called me a c*nt when i lit one up right beside him hahaha...):p

pikachucheeks · 24-08-2009 12:56am

Older than Brummytom, anyway! :P

I'd say 18 +

brummytom · 24-08-2009 12:57am

pikachucheeks wrote: »

Older than Brummytom, anyway! :P

I'd say 18 +

Age-ist!

If you weren't fit I'd be offended :pac:

I'd say 21+

veXual · 24-08-2009 8:10am

You only become a man or a woman when some parent decides to use you as a threat to discipline their children e.g.

You work in a shop or something and some annoying little kid starts to have a strop, the parent then points at you and says "Now now little Timmy behave yourself or I'll have to leave you here with that man!"

That is the turning point in becoming a man or woman...

Long Onion · 24-08-2009 8:18am

When you no longer maintain your Bebo page,
When the Ugg's go to the fad graveyard in the sky,
When 'OMG', 'like', and 'sooooooooooooooooooooo' disappear from your vocabulary
When you stop mixing apple juice with Tesco vodka,

When all these things happen, then you will be a woman.

spoofilyj · 24-08-2009 8:27am

Over the last year or so i have noticed a change in people when refering to me. Like when I am buying something in a shop the assistant will say thank you Sir and I wondering did I age that much in a year. But I really dont care whether I refered to as Man or Lad In fact I probably is nicer to be consiudered yeouger then I am these days IMO.

Sofaspud · 24-08-2009 10:46am

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

redfacedbear · 24-08-2009 11:30am

I was 16 and working in McDonald's when I overheard a mother threaten her misbehaving child with 'the man' - I looked around and realised she was referring to me.

At around the same time the youngsters on Buckingham & Sheriff streets used to call me 'young fella' when I was wearing my school uniform (even though I was a decade older than them) and 'mister' if I was not.

Long Onion · 24-08-2009 11:33am

redfacedbear wrote: »

I was 16 and working in McDonald's when I overheard a mother threaten her misbehaving child with 'the man' - I looked around and realised she was referring to me.

*to be sung to the tune of Gary Glitter's 'Leader of the pack'"*

You wanna be a paedo? Come on come on

You wanna be a paedo? Come on come on ...

drunkymonkey · 24-08-2009 11:53am

grenache wrote: »

I think its a physical thing rather than a mental thing. If a man/woman are fully physically developed, with no more growing left to do and hair in the various places, then is it safe to call them a man or a woman

So if they have boobs that you're allowed to google at then they are a woman!?

Zigmund · 24-08-2009 12:17pm

When you hurt yourself and instead of crying you just go "Ahhh", Then you are a man.

Or Peter griffin.

Irishcrx · 24-08-2009 1:21pm

I believe your a man when you have had life expierience, social expierience, can act maturely , have responibity, handle responsibility , respect others.

Irishcrx · 24-08-2009 1:25pm

"Now your a man...a man man man man"
"What makes a man is it the woman is his arms...is it...his guest for glory"

Amy33 · 24-08-2009 3:31pm

I'm 33 and still get called a girl and will hopefully for a long time yet.

Call Me Jimmy · 24-08-2009 3:35pm

I'm 22 but I can't even get a pack a cigerettes in this kip. I am no man.

Oh The Humanity · 24-08-2009 3:36pm

trish990 wrote: »

I'm 33 and still get called a girl and will hopefully for a long time yet.

Me too usually!

But a recent worrying development is when a few times shop assistants/hairdressers etc have spoken of 'the lady' -as in 'show the lady to the sinks'......and I realise to my horror they mean me!

:eek:

Call Me Jimmy · 24-08-2009 3:38pm

I take it you two like cream pie?

sam34 · 24-08-2009 7:04pm

im nearly 30 and others' reactions vary - yesterday a man told his kid to "leave the girl alone", while last week an old man walking past me said "good morning ma'am". the "ma'am" bit kinda disturbed me, tbh, no way do i look old enough to warrant that!

Mina Loy · 24-08-2009 7:24pm

Well I had dealings with the guards today and they reffered to me as a woman when they were giving details about an incident..and I'm only 23 and I used to be called young woman,

no more girl for me. poop

Novella · 24-08-2009 8:15pm

I was in work today, when a woman said to her child, "Give that to the nice lady!", talking about me :mad:

I was like :eek: I'm 20 and I'd much rather be called a girl, than a woman or a lady! I think woman will be ok when I'm like 25! Don't ask me for logic behind that, I'm just clutching at my youth! :pac:

What age do you have to be to be called a woman or a man???

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