• DonnieDarkmode@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I’ve noticed that “gay” is used as a more general term for members of the LGBTQ+ community, similar to how “guys” has a pretty common gender-neutral usage

    EDIT: tweaked the wording a bit

    • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      “Guys” hasn’t actually been accepted as gender neutral for a number of years, due to its implicit anti-feminist bias (you’ll fit in if you act like us men).

      I struggle with not using it constantly, as it was the go-to gender neutral term for my generation.

      • Very_Bad_Janet@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I think this is a bit regional. “Guys” sounds entirely gender neutral to my ear while “dudes” or “bro” sound specifically about men. But I know that “dude” and “bro” are used to refer to either women or men in other locations and “guys” is interpreted as being also referring to men there. I don’t think there is an absolute with these particular terms.

        • Veraxus@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          As a Californian, I take GREAT offense at the idea of gendering “dude”.

          There is no more gender neutral term than “dude.” You’re dude. I’m dude. He’s dude. She’s dude. They are dudes. The weather is dude. Animals… dudes. Kids: dudes. Elderly: dudes. Girls are dudes. Boys are dudes. Men and women are dudes. Google is dude. Your smart phone… also dude. Parking meter? Dude.

          You can use it for anything… but do not gender it.

      • DonnieDarkmode@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Thanks for the correction! I still hear that usage fairly often and wasn’t up with the discourse around it. Like the other reply I’m also more partial to “folks” personally (as well as “y’all”), but I think I still use “guys” out of habit on occasion