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From: carson@homxa.UUCP (P.CARSTENSEN)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: Dividing Line
Message-ID: <784@homxa.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 7-Mar-85 18:11:12 EST
Article-I.D.: homxa.784
Posted: Thu Mar  7 18:11:12 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 9-Mar-85 06:21:36 EST
References: <731@decwrl.UUCP> <745@amdcad.UUCP> <627@mhuxt.UUCP>, <917@vax1.fluke.UUCP>, <541@hou5g.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 17

Sigh, the bad news is that no single word for person-of-the-female-type
persuasion is going to work everywhere...You just get yourself geared
up to using "woman" consistently, and you end up with a bunch of
20-50 yr. old females who WON'T allow "woman"...2 rules of thumb I go
by are (1) If you are referring to X, try to refer to her as she prefers
(hope she returns the COURTESY -- which is what it is...admittedly this
is not easy to remember for all acquaintenances, much less easy to
determine with strangers...on the other hand, it may help to preserve
your mental and physical health *joke dammit*), (2)whatever you use,
BY ALL MEANS, use it respectfully...saying "I'll have my gal do it" is
not any different from "...my girl do it"

Good luck...
Patty
(Ps, an ex-office-mate of mine used "my fellow" for co-workers of
either sex, but his charming Roumanian accent may be what made it
so attractive...)