People who say "ladies" (including the quotation marks)

[anriana]

Greatly annoy me. I've notice people do this on CS a lot and it irritates me every single time. The person's gender is never relevant to the story when this is used, and it's always being used to point out that they're not following the proper feminine code of behavior. Oh no, a female SC used a curse word or talked about sex or whatever the poster deemed unladylike, let's point out what a vulgar piece of trash they are for not meeting my standards for womanly behavior.


And I've never seen a post with "gentleman" in it, although that would be equally annoying.

[Boozy]

I know several men who use the words "lady" and "ladies" in this tone of voice which I hate. Its unmistakably misogynistic sounding to me.

I personally haven't picked any of that up on CS, but I do know exactly what you mean.

[FashionLad]

If I were to talk about an exceptionaly rude customer who is a woman, I would sometimes say "lady" just like that. At the same time, if I were to refer to an exceptionally rude man, I would sometimes say "gentleman" just like that.

I call my girlfriend "my lady"... it either just doesn't bother her or she actually likes it. Of course, I'm using it in the context that she is a woman who is the object of chivalrous devotion.

I could call exceptionally rude women customers a bitch and men a dick; however, overall my language is still pretty clean and I'd like to keep it that way.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I always took it as a mark of sarcasm. The people are being referred to as "ladies" because their behavior is so un-ladylike.

A lady is different from a woman. Women act in a million different ways. A LADY acts in the way of a lady. My Aunt Sharon is a lady. I try not to even say things like "jerk" or "crap" in front of her because she's dignified and proper and a sweetheart.

If someone were to refer to ME as a "lady" I would understand that to be a tongue-in-cheek thing because I am so obviously unladylike that it's funny.

I think what I'm trying to say is that to me, "lady" implies a particular behavior rather than defining a gender.

Of course I could just be completely misunderstanding what the issue is here, which happens, heh.

[flybye023]

I agree with MystyGlytter that it is behavior rather than gender. To me, the characteristics of a lady or a gentlemen include:

1. Respect for others
2. Respect for themselves
3. Compassion
4. Treating others as one would wish be treated. In the CS sense, a lady and/or gentleman does not treat store clerks/wait staff as lesser beings.
5. Understanding and following rules and policies
6. Being polite

I don't necessarily agree that language and/or dress would be a defining characteristic though it could be. For example, I still believe that a woman who curses like a sailor as a, I don't know, quirk, of her everyday speech would be a lady if she still fell under the above points. If she used it in a disrespectful, demeaning, or harassing manner toward another, she wouldn't be.

In modern usage, "lady" has to a certain extent become synonymous with female and "gentleman" with male because, I think, we expect a certain level of politeness in social situations and apply the terms generally. However, sometimes a person steps outside of that role and the "quotes" become a tool of sarcasm or double meaning; i.e. the person is a lady in that she is still female but is no longer a lady in that she is not displaying characteristics of a polite member of society.

Any person born female will grow up to be a woman. Behavior is learned. If you want to be a bitch, be a bitch and own the personality. If you want to be a lady, be a lady.

[blas87]

Call me crazy but I have seen "gentleman" written as such on CS before. Probably included in a story about a total asshole.

[DesignFox]

It doesn't bother me. I take it as the nice way of saying someone was being a asshole. I know I've used both "ladies" and "gentlemen" if I was trying to convey my point without offending someone by saying a curse word.

I'm also just a sarcastic person, so....