I would lever call a woman I interact with in a professional context a girl. That's so Mad Men. Am I the only one who considers this headline inappropriate for a posting about gender issues at work?
I think some of that is generational. The women I work with who are my generation (I'm in my 50s) find that offensive, whereas the ones from the generation younger don't see anything wrong with it. I think the language is changing, where the previous generation would say men and girls, and my generation would say men and women, the next generation seems to be moving toward girls and boys.
She can, you can't. Similar to the use of "nigga" or "[black] boy"
It's a (short-term) tactical subversion move to reduce the power imbalance in cases of extreme sexism, but as a long-term strategy it is incapable of reaching equality.
