51吃瓜

Gendered language isn鈥檛 anything new. The English language has repeatedly identified people as male or female through titles and other descriptive words. Think waiter/waitress, policeman/policewoman, and so on. Fortunately, many of these words have been replaced by 听gender-neutral terms (server and police officer), but at the same time, some of the latest听neologisms assign gender to terms that were previously neutral .听

We’re talking about terms like girl boss, SheEO, and Boss Babe. At first, they may sound empowering, but the overall effect of these words and others like them is more patronizing than anything. They鈥檙e unnecessary and undermine efforts to take gender out of conversations in which it is鈥攐r at least 蝉丑辞耻濒诲听be鈥�irrelevant.听

Not only that, but not everyone identifies as male or female. Some prefer to use , such as they and them. And 鈥渢hem boss鈥� is just confusing.

So let’s take a look at some of the most unnecessarily feminine words …听 and where they came from.

girl boss

Let鈥檚 start with girl boss. This is a term that took off in 2014 after Sophia Amoruso, founder of Nasty Gal, wrote the book听#GIRLBOSS. The message was great鈥攖hat outsiders can carve a unique path to success鈥攁nd while there鈥檚 a certain amount of pride in announcing that you鈥檙e a female and in charge, the fact is that it should be expected that women are bosses, just like men. Adding girl before boss makes the title sound cute rather than capable and competent.

The definition of听boss certainly doesn鈥檛 include gender: 鈥�a person who employs or superintends workers; manager.鈥� This Americanism is first recorded around 1640鈥�50, stemming from the Dutch word baas, meaning 鈥渕aster, foreman.鈥�

And if you really want to spice things up (and have been using the term girl boss), consider one of the many that don’t mention gender, including听chief, head honcho, or top dog.

shero

A portmanteau of she and hero, shero is used to describe a woman who performs heroic feats, inspires others, or is a general badass. Think Ruth Bader Ginsburg, for example. The term isn’t actually new. In fact, there鈥檚 some evidence that it dates back to the suffragette movement of the late 1800s, but that doesn鈥檛 make the prefix any more necessary.听 Some may argue that it鈥檚 better than heroine, which sounds just like the drug heroin.听 In the cases of heroine and shero …听it’s clear that hero on its own suffices.听

The definition of hero is 鈥�a person noted for courageous acts or nobility of character.鈥� The word dates back to 1605鈥�15, and it was originally used to describe only men. Over time, however, it has evolved into a gender-neutral term, so even if the听蝉丑别听颈苍听蝉丑别谤辞听was necessary in the past, these days the she should be shed.

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she shed听

Another she we should shed comes in the form of she sheds. Like man cave, she shed is a term used to describe a place a woman can escape to, usually a small building placed in the backyard. The origins of the term are a bit murky, but it seems to have first appeared around 2015. It was notably used in a 2018 State Farm commercial featuring Cheryl and her she shed, which seemed to accelerate the term鈥檚 popularity.听

The she here is superfluous at best. Shed by itself would do just fine, though many of these fancy so-called she sheds are more like tiny houses or backyard offices instead of what the definition of shed (鈥�a slight or rude structure built for shelter, storage, etc.鈥�) implies.

Now, just for fun, say it fast five times: 鈥淪he sheds she sheds down by the seashore 鈥︹��

mompreneur

There are a couple versions of this term that put a female twist on听entrepreneur, including mumpreneur and entreprenHER鈥攏one of which are necessary. Have you ever heard anyone refer to a man as a dadpreneuer? We think not.听

The term entrepreneur will do just fine, no matter one鈥檚 gender. Defined as 鈥�a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk,鈥� there鈥檚 no need to add gender into the mix. Entrepreneur first appeared around 1875鈥�80 and stems from the French word entreprendre, which means 鈥渢o undertake.鈥�

SheEO

Clever, but unnecessary and far too cutesy for the role is how we鈥檇 describe the term SheEO, which substitutes the C in CEO (the abbreviation for Chief Executive Officer) with she. If they earned the title, their gender shouldn鈥檛 matter, and it鈥檚 patronizing to imply that it does by using this term.听

boss babe听

We鈥檝e already discussed the term boss, which is fine on its own. Adding the term babe to it, however, evokes a whole other image. In this case, it isn鈥檛 used in the traditional sense to describe a baby or a child (though some bossy babies probably deserve it). Babe here is used as a slang term, which is defined as 鈥渟ometimes disparaging and offensive;听a girl or woman, especially an attractive one.鈥� Notice anything problematic?

There鈥檚 no need to bring anyone鈥檚 looks into the picture when it comes to their title and their ability to lead a team. We鈥檒l say it again, a boss should be a boss, and their gender or looks should have nothing to do with it.

mean girls听

In 2004, the movie Mean Girls hit the theaters, and the phrase exploded onto the scene. Of course the words mean and girls had been around much longer.

First evidence of mean as an adjective meaning 鈥�offensive, selfish, or unaccommodating; nasty; malicious鈥� appeared before the year 900. It comes from the Old English 驳别尘牵苍别, meaning 鈥�common.鈥� Evidence of the word girl dates back to around 1250鈥�1300. It comes from the Middle English words gurle, girle,听and gerle, which were all used to describe a child or young person regardless of gender.

Put them together, however, and the phrase implies that girls are innately mean or at least mean more often than boys. How often have you heard anyone refer to a group of young men as 鈥渕ean boys鈥�? Boys get called jerks, fools, and idiots, and we think girls should too鈥攜ou know, if we鈥檙e calling names. Mean people suck, but the phrase sucks much less than mean girls.

feminazi

A combination of feminist and Nazi, feminazi is an offensive term on several levels. While first evidence of the word dates back to the late 1980s, it was Rush Limbaugh who gave it a modern-day boost in the 1990s. In his book, he described feminazis as 鈥渙bnoxious鈥� and 鈥渕ilitant鈥� women 鈥渢o whom the most important thing in life is seeing to it that as many abortions as possible are performed.鈥� He argued that these super feminists want to wage a 鈥渕odern-day holocaust鈥� of men.听

So for one, the term is sexist as heck, as it鈥檚 often used to pooh-pooh women鈥檚 rights. But, even though some have tried to reclaim the word, it鈥檚 a double-don鈥檛, as using the word Nazi to describe anyone other than members of the National Socialist German Workers鈥� Party, which controlled Germany from 1933鈥�45 under Adolf Hitler, makes light of the atrocious crimes they committed.

Have any other feminized words we missed? Share them with us and we’ll make sure they get added to this article!

Interested in more? Here are some necessary feminine words … that have no male counterpart.