How are we all?
I’m acting as a mouthpiece for my mum for this blog to discuss something that bothers her;
the use of the term “guys” when addressing a group of multiple genders.
It’s become the colloquial gender equaliser, except a “guy” is definitely a man.
Like with many other uses of language such as “man-power”, or job titles that end in “man”, (“policeman”, “fireman”, “postman”), to refer to a group as “guys” places the emphasis on men being the default, while women and other genders are othered.
Has its context been reclaimed to be considered a gender-neutral term now? Can any term that has a male centred basis ever be considered gender neutral and removed from the systems of patriarchy? Are we digging too deeply into this? Probably!
But let's look back at the history of the word "guy".
It originated with Guy Fawkes. After his failed attempt to blow up the houses of Parliament, effigies of him, called "guys", were burnt on Guy Fawkes Day - the 5th of November.
The term then developed to be a negative descriptor of a person with particular reference to their 'grotesque appearance' - an early understanding of a "bad guy".
As the word made its way to America, potentially due to lack of context, the word "guy" evolved to mean a man or fellow. Now it is used to describe a multitude of genders.
However, how often have you heard someone address a group of multiple genders as "gals" or any term that in a singular context refers to a female? If a predominantly male group were called such a term, it would probably be considered odd.
So what are our alternatives?
People? Gang? Everyone? They don’t slip of the tongue quite as well, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard their use just because it takes more effort.
So much of our day-to-day language has a male emphasis that we have learnt to accept and normalise it. However, recognising ingrained gender bias and challenging these small things is how we make progress.
Next time you’re in a group of mixed genders, consider using terms that don’t have any reference to gender. Especially as society is beginning to recognise that gender is a spectrum not a black and white distinction, and not everyone identifies as a “guy”.
Although the term may be widely accepted as removed from any gender association because of its frequent use, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try out alternatives.
Or at least, when in the company of my lovely mum who will have no hesitation in declaring, “I am not a guy!” if the word is used in reference to her.
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