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Heim Group
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Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
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Free Tips 
GenderSpeak Tips for the Workplace
Check back frequently for new Gender Tips each month.
The Situation: A male colleague refers to women as "girls."
You're talking with a colleague about a tight situation he had been in when he says, "I'm so pleased with the help I got from the girls in office services."
You feel it is inappropriate for Phil to refer to these women as girls, but you don't quite know how to straighten him out. What do you do?
The Solution:
You're right in assessing that Phil is inappropriately diminishing the power of the women who work in office services. The research is very clear that our society views "girls" as lazy, weak, and inconsiderate. Although we conjure up an image of "ladies" as people who are beautiful and tasteful, in actuality the term is reserved for unfamiliar, low-status females. The term woman consistently garners the most favorable ratings and is used in practice for the most respectable of females as a term of power.
You'd like to raise Phil's consciousness, but to confront him directly may cause him to become defensive and resistant to changing his language. You have at least two options:
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The Juxtaposition Strategy. Use the word woman in the next sentence, as in, "Yes, those women consistently do a great job." If after several attempts that doesn't work, you might consider using the second option.
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The Sledgehammer Method. If this colleague is a peer or lower in the organization, you might say, "Phil, they're lucky to have an opportunity to work with a boy like you." If this individual is your boss or a senior executive, you may need to temper your tactic. In this case, you might say, "They couldn't have done it without the boys in shipping."
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Rule: Call yourself and other female colleagues women, not girls or ladies.
For more situation gender tips, read Smashing the Glass Ceiling, Tactics for Women Who Want to Win in Business.
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