Is "female" offensive?

I feel like a lot of answers here are dancing around why people find it offensive without really addressing it.

As an adjective "female" is completely fine to distinguish between genders when applied to humans. As in "a female athlete" or when a form asks you to select "male" or "female" (ideally with additional options "diverse" and "prefer not to answer").

Where it's problematic is when it's used as a noun. In English "a male" and "a female" is almost exclusively reserved for animals. For humans we have "a man" and "a woman". Calling a person "a female" is often considered offensive because it carries the implication of women being either animals, property or at least so extremely different from the speaker that they don't consider them equal. This impression is reinforced by the fact that the trend of calling women "females" is popular with self-proclaimed "nice guys" who blame women for not wanting to date them when in reality it's their own behavior (for example calling women "females") that drives potential partners away.

So in itself, the word "female" is just as valid as "male" and in some contexts definitely the right word to use but the way it has been used gives it a certain negative connotation.

Female as an adjective is perfectly fine.

A female patient, a female politician, a female customer, etc. That's the best way to refer to those.

What's bad is using 'female' as a noun: "A female. "

In general, you just don't use adjectives-as-nouns to refer to people. You don't call someone "a gay", "a black", or "a Chinese". That is offensive, and "a female" has the same kind of feel.

(there are exceptions to the above: you can call someone 'an American' or 'A German", but not "A French". I don't understand why - if you can't feel your way, best just avoid it)

Now, you could get around it by calling someone "a female person" - except that we already have a word for "female person", and that's "woman". And to go out of your way to avoid saying "woman" makes you sound like some kind of incel weirdo, and you don't want that.

Not really offensive on its own, but it carries a reductive and dehumanizing vibe, depending on how it's used. And the ones who use "female" instead of "woman" are often incels and/or misogynists, giving the term a bad conotation.

Also, Ferengis...

It’s potentially offensive when people say men and females, which is often why it comes up online. Using either male or female as a noun is dehumanizing, in that it’s not commonly used to refer to people, but mostly animals (law enforcement and military use them as nouns, but they’re also intentionally distancing themselves from the people in reports).

Basically, “women” feels weird for a lot of English speakers, but “girls” sounds creepy, so they try for something else. Just go with women, 99% of the time, it’s perfectly fine

Context is important. If I say: "Sexual dimorphism is when a species has two distinct sexes, male and female," I dont think many would find that rude. Now, if I say "Im so sick of females telling me what to do" you might get some cocked eyebrows.

The way I explained it to a chronically single friend who used this word problematically all the time, and made him stop: Female is a word that describes gender and/or sex. My wife is female, and so is my dog. My wife is literally a woman, and my dog is literally a removed, so if I speak of my wife with the same sterile language that I speak of my dog, then my wife would easily conclude that I have no respect for her. I then asked him how the dating world was treating him, he said "bad", and I said "of course, because you treat women like dogs".

Never heard him say it again.

It really depends on the context. When used as an adjective, it's fine. For example, the sentence "My female coworker has brown hair." is correct. However, when it is used as a noun, it can be dehumanising. For example: "A female at my workplace has brown hair" is dehumanising. It can be used as a noun when talking about non-humans ("After mating, the female will lay her eggs.") or in medicinal context when referring to people with uteruses.

It's super context dependent. Asking "How do I ask a woman out?" Vs "How do I ask a female out?" say very different things about you.

It’s kind of like the difference between talking about people who are black and referring to someone as “one of the blacks”. It’s subtle, but the latter is objectifying where as the former is descriptive.

Using it as an adjective in some cases is fine, never use it as a noun, unfortunately due to assholes using it that way it now has a negative conotation.

It sounds fairly scientific in a crunchy or incel way. As others have highlighted here, there are times it can be used, but generally, I'd stick to "women" or "ladies" for most situations. It flows better and avoids potentially negative connotations. That said, if english isn't your native language, I'd expect native speakers to cut you some slack; english can be a difficult language to learn, and the language is always evolving, particularly around gendered language right now. Sounds like you are putting the effort into learning it, though :)

It’s an adjective not a noun when talking about people. The sort of people who use it as a noun tend to be misogynists and so when people do it they’re often unknowingly writing with a misogynist accent if that makes sense.

Mostly just by association. It sounds very incel-y.

"I have a female friend." (As in "I have a friend that's a woman.") "I've talked with a female today." (As in "I've talked with a woman today.")

The first one is fine, because isn't using the word as an adjective. The second one is derogatory, because it is being used as a substantive.

When used as a noun they're how you refer to non-human animals so when you use them for people it sounds that you don't think men/women are human

male/female usually used for animals, for humans usage of man/woman would be the right way

Depends entirely on how you use it. There are many perfectly valid uses for the word, like in science or on a checkbox where you select your gender. The point where it can get offensive is when referring to individuals or groups of women as "females" where you could instead just use "women". It's language often used by incels and the like.

Male and female are biological terms. Mostly "man/woman" are more appropriate unless you're specifically talking about biological sex. Particularly since a certain bunch of people is now using "females" with a bit of underlying vitriol, it'd be a good idea to stay away from it.

The problem is using it when "woman" is the correct word. If you say stuff like "the female at the customer service desk doesn't know how to do her job" then you run the risk of being called an incel or ferengi, though if you don't seem like a sexist, churchy, or maga-hatter, then you can probably get away with it by not sounding like a native speaker. Or just avoid all that like me and don't talk to people because social interactions of any kind are mentally draining.

Some people think it's dehumanizing. As an adjective, it's more acceptable ("There is a female nurse"); it sounds a bit off-putting as a noun ("The nurse is a female"). There are some people who don't like to use it at all, and that leads to awkward things like using "woman" as an adjective ("There is a woman nurse")!

You're probably okay as long as you stick to using it as an adjective, but you still might offend some people.

This is what I said to someone who asked a very similar question about the same thing a while back:

'Females' is, effectively, a 'technical term' you might say, that isn't used in normal conversation. It's used specifically in situations where distance from the subject being discussed is intentional. It is the sort of language used in police reports, medical reports and the like...when it's even being applied to humans at all. Its use is perhaps more common referring to animals; it's the sort of terminology you'd expect to hear in a nature documentary.

The people trying to push its use are intending to make the subjects - women - sound 'other' and separate and alien by referring to them as 'females'. Not everyone who is picking up this terminology intends it that way, but the connotations are unavoidable because of how language works in common use, and therefore if you don't intend it that way, you badly need to be made aware of it so you can stop.

it's supposed to be an adjective (female dog, female human, etc.) but people who want to reduce people to nothing but their sex will use it as a noun.

I'd say it's off-putting for the same reason that using technically accurate biological terminology in place of sexy-talk can be off-putting. It could come off as impersonal or alien at best, and objectifying at worst.

Think of an alien in disguise saying "hello fellow humans". Technically, it's not wrong, it's just weird.

I think it's because it's mostly used by "sigma male" seing womens as objects(not sure thought, but that's what i've seen).

If you say "This female" vs. "This woman", it could be considered very rude. English is very context dependent.

Others in this thread will tell you it's only acceptable as an adjective or for animals. That's not true. Here are some non-adjective uses that most people wouldn't consider misogynistic on the surface:

• A female changing room (noun adjunct)
• Female-only spaces. (noun)
• Sorry, this shelter is only for females. (noun)
• This procedure is not recommended for females. (noun)
• Only females are eligible for this award. (noun)
• "Is the person you're going out with tonight a male or a female?" (noun, my mom said this)
• "A male character has no stats difference compared to a female." (Probably an adjective but arguably not)

That said, "I am a single man looking for a female" is pretty gross usage. Also, please note that some of these examples may be transphobic in nature.

Can you give us more context?

"Woman" is almost always preferred because it respects one's personal identity, as opposed to the compulsory status of biological sex, which is often used as a source of belittlement and/or bigotry against women. (and carries a whole plethora of baggage when people decide they get to judge someone's female-ness)

But it doesn't mean that you shouldn't generally be able to use the term "female" without causing social friction, if you have a good amount of social grace.

(its actually quite normal in fantasy/scifi circles, for example)

I think you may be asking the wrong question- you may want to explain what you were talking about and ask what specific phrases or situations might have unsettled people.

Maybe it was just a weirdly specific English faux pas, or maybe you have a friend who is a little extra sensitive after bad experiences and who could use your support. Maybe its a total miscommunication- who knows?

I'd say it's a tone and context sorta thing.

For me, As non native English speaker too, its aggressive .

One place where it makes sense to use the word female as a noun is when an individual word like "woman" doesn't work. For instance, if there are girls and women together, neither "women" nor "girls" is appropriate. In that case, I think "female" is the only option. I'd be happy to hear if anyone has an alternative.

Anything can be offensive in the corresponding context.

I mean, I didn't know "orange" could be offensive, but then Trump showed up.

Saying 'female' to refer to a person who is female can sound overly technical or abstracted, and therefore a bit dehumanizing or depersonalizing.

That said, some people over-react, and sometimes it is more appropriate or at least fine to say 'female', for example if you were speaking in the abstract about something that spans between women and girls, or is specifically about biological sex.

But most of the time 'women' or 'girls' or even 'ladies' is going to be more appropriate.

What language are you coming from, out of curiosity?

im a female. im offensive. does that count?

It's dehumanizing. Use woman, girl, person.

Everything is offensive to someone.

I personally would always prefer saying boy girl man woman over male and female. Whener I first saw it used it was always in a negative context like "young black male" in regard to some crime to give the opposite example. Just like in French I think it's weird to refer to humans with male and female, although accurate of course, as I would only expect it in for animals.

Many people consider it dehumanizing. Others interpret as a signal of at least insensitivity and at most conscious dehumanizing. It can feel threatening outside certain specific contexts and that depends much on how much you trust the person saying it.

I find it outmoded and jarring. I know people who say it as part of everyday speech and I trust them but I'd prefer it if they spoke differently and I think they're projecting an image worse than they merit.

I don't call things offensive or not, because that oversimplifies the matter. I would find "male" and "female" useful as nouns when I want to refer to biological sex specifically and not confuse it with gender. I would also find the adjectives "manly" and "womanly" useful to refer to gender instead of using "male" and "female". But as long as enough other people feel threatened by some of those words in a neutral context where they don't already trust me, it seems wise to me to be aware of that and not use those words that way.

The whole idea of saying "a white" instead of "a white man" is merely a habit we picked up from Latin, anyway.

Not with proper hygiene.

This explains it pretty well https://callmebymygender.top/

Female as an adjective is inoffensive everywhere, but you will run into problems in some contexts because its definition is currently in flux and different people will mean different things by it.

Female as a noun has the same changing definition deal, and also some online misogynists use it as a pejorative. It isn't one, but they use it as one. As a corollary, some others on the internet have chosen to be offended by the term.

My daughter can be pretty offensive. Quite the potty mouth for an 8 year old.

I understand your pain. My home language doesn't even have separate words for woman and female, or male and man.

It's as offensive as "black" is. If you call someone female that's fine. If you call someone a female, you're going to look like an incel.

Yas, Queen

I've switched to Lady for a lot of descriptors that I used to use Female. And a lot more They. Or just a physical description, like the person with the dark hair.

Edit: I'm probably trying harder than I need to. I just want to accommodate people.

The basic rule of thumb is that anyone who gets upset with you using the word female isn't worth your time. If they're really going to get upset about you using the word female then they're probably going to get upset about a lot of other trivial things as well and that's not the sort of negativity and bitterness you want in your life.

People that say 'females' out loud in public are quickly assumed to never get laid. It's okay to use when talking or writing about science topics and such.

How about: "The weaker sex" instead?

Friend, people will get offended by anything and everything. Didn't worry about it. You just be you.

Let me break down the explanations given, because most of them boil down to this:

As a noun, yes, because it's mainly used in biology like that ("A hawk female") and thus can come off as dehumanizing. As an adjective: No ("A female cashier", "A male cashier")

It’s not negative per se , but quite impolite, not least because a woman is so much more than her gender.

No.

You can use it to compare humans with animals. It is often used in animal documentaries. You can use female/male as a name in general. Then you have it very clear in a little bit insulting style. On the other hand it's not really insulting and nobody can expect from a second or third language guy to speak in a non-offensive style like US- or UK establishment people like to do. This would be racism. 🤡

Ignore the idiots. We non native speakers are graceful enough to attempt to talk with them politely, that is more than enough. Appeasing snowflakes is not my goal.

"Female" is as offensive as "male" is. I see "male" being used all the time, so I will not refrain from using "female".

Nope. Next.

It depends on if you’re handsome or not

As far as I'm concerned. No not a problem.

If someone says they identify as something else then make the correction.