I'm not suggesting that I have any experience in being a "female", I just wanted to get your attention.  Last night I was at a going away party for a buddy at work who is moving to Chicago, and yesterday was his last day.  As the night dragged on at Mo's, and the group started to get smaller and smaller, a cluster of us were all gathered around talking.  One of the other guy's started talking about some places in Chicago he had been to "wine and dine females".  I've heard this sort of thing before, and I've never understood it.

Why do some people refer to women as "females"?  To me, it seems very cold, almost to the point of being dehumanizing.  When I hear "female", it sounds like you're talking about an animal, not a person.  I don't know this particular person too well, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, as I don't think he's some terrible guy. And he's certainly not the first person I've heard using that phrasing.  But I have to wonder why some people do it.

I don't think it's about dehumanizing women in general.  I wonder if this doesn't have more to do with somehow being politically correct.  If you think of a word for woman, I can probably find someone who thinks that word is offensive, or somehow misogynistic.  Even the spelling of the word women can draw controversy, as some prefer womyn.  Hell, even the word female can be politically incorrect since it has the ghastly word "male" in it.  So is "female" the new politically correct alternative for referring to women?  Are guys using it just to be safe?

To any guys out there reading this who use the word "female" to refer to women, is there another reason for doing this?  And to women out there reading this, how do you feel when guys refer to you as a "female"?  Last night, I don't think any of the women at the table really batted an eye when they heard it.  They're probably pretty used to it.  But I'm still really curious about this.  For me at least, women will always be women... and I think that's a great thing.