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Saturday I had this debate with our producer about whether women should be called ladies. Where do you stand?
I'm not a big fan of political correctness. But like most people, I respect others and wish not to offend them if I can avoid it. What happened to me on Saturday completely caught me off guard, and I am not sure what to do.
This past Saturday was like any other weekend. I was sitting at my computer going over scripts for the upcoming show. Evrod Cassimy did a report on a local Habitat for Humanity building their first panelized home. In his script he wrote the word "lady." Our producer asked him if he could change it to woman. Evrod, being a laid back guy, gladly made the change. And me, being the ever curious one, began to probe.
"What is wrong with the word, 'lady'?" I asked.
"I know a lot people that are offended by that word," she replied.
"Really?" I said in astonishment. "I call women 'ladies' as a term of respect and out of politeness." I averred.
She responded by saying, "But, the male equivalent of a lady is a lord, should I call you a lord? I am not a lady. Many of the women I know are not ladies, and they are offended when you call them one. A lady is a woman who is very well dressed, and doesn't smoke or swear and is very proper."
She concluded her brief monologue by sarcastically stating, "Most women are not ladies."
"Wow!" I replied having no idea where to start. "I don't think you can compare 17th century English to modern English. The word lady has changed in common usage. And, I try not to offend people, but if I stop using all the words that offend people I would not be able to say much. This may be a bit too much for me."
"Maybe offend is not the word," she added. "I think annoying is more like it. The word is annoying. I don't like how the word is used in everyday language. Like when people say, 'hey ladies', they are using it in a objectifying way."
"But, the way I use it is like, 'she is a nice lady'. Is that o.k.?" I asked.
"That seems fine if they are over 75 years old. I feel a lady is an old woman," she responded. "But it is still annoying. It seems o.k. when a women says it, but when a man says it it just irritates me."
If you are a female are you offended if someone were to call you a lady? And, if you are a male, do you care?
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