Settle a disagreement between my wife and me...

[ret5hd]

is the term "Girl Friday" derogatory or demeaning?

from the wikipedia for "Man Friday":
1) The female equivalent is Girl Friday. The title of the movie His Girl Friday alludes to it and may have popularised it.

2) The character is the source of the expression "Man Friday", used to describe a male personal assistant or servant, especially one who is particularly competent or loyal.

[BarakaFlakaFlame]

fuck no

man yall too sensative bout stupid shit

[DaveJ]

1. Yes, subservience is demeaning

This seems pretty obvious.

[Courtesy Flush]

39. Oh for shit sake

The British chuckle at the American attitude that any kind of service is demeaning. Assistants are the life blood of many work environments, and people like you make them feel like dirt. Must EVERYBODY be the boss?

[DaveJ]

60. I just think people are equals.

I personally do not get off on, enjoy, appreciate, or whatever, the idea of subservience. People are equals. If in your mind the world depends on people being bosses of one another then that's fine. I avoid people like you. In my world I see people as equals.

[JuniperLea]

82. Not everyone is equal... Assistants are more equal than most!

Every good boss worth his salt will tell you without hesitation that his assistant is the real boss, the one who knows all, tells nothing, and makes everything happen.

I know Executive Assistants that make well over $200k a year, plus bonus, plus stock options. Corporate America knows what side of their bread is buttered... the one that hits the ground if the assistant isn't there to catch it!

[Mr Deltoid]

91. Mini Me's are the most equal of all

At least my wife's Mini Me is.

[Courtesy Flush]

87. Deleted post

One of us should have some manners.

[JuniperLea]

81. Amen!

My boss tells EVERYONE that I am the real boss... he even cc's me on his emails to the other guys in other corner offices and says, check with Juniper... she keeps me honest and is the only one who knows what's really going on here.

Life blood is right! Absolutely!

[RadiationTherapy]

103. I find it very insulting and demeaning for a boss to call his assistant the boss.

That artificial notion of power. Your boss may be a slave to his schedule and you may manage the schedule, but that's not the same thing. There is no honest communication in a hierarchy.

[JuniperLea]

107. Nonsense...

He truly knows he is fucked without me. It has been proven time and time again. I end up getting free vacation days because he needs to call me for answers when I'm out.

This isn't merely words or a game... it's the real deal. I am the Queen Bee and he knows it. There's nothing artificial about my power.

[Major Nikon]

85. Better to be the #1 man in a Gaul villiage than the #2 man in Rome

I propose that the Roman's invented this attitude.

What say you?

[rocktivity]

2. Man Friday -- it came from the novel Robinson Curose

it's what he named the cannibal who was on the deserted album with him.

Gal Friday must have come later.

:headbang:
rocktivity

[Canuckistanian]

88. I remember that.

Crusoe called him that because he met the servant on a Friday.

[Broderick]

3. I honestly don't understand at all

Is this a TV thing? A soap? A sitcom?

[Turbineguy]

4. Girl Friday

Isn't that the special woman in every office who does the actual work while the guys sit around and make bad decisions and get paid more?

[louslobbs]

8. Yes, that's it exactly.

Lou

[no_hypocrisy]

10. Nobody thought any less of Rosalyn Russell . . . . .

[MADem]

16. That's from back in the day when women had to pretend to be stupid so they didn't hurt

the man's feelings.

That's from back in the day when women could be paid less than men because "They don't have a family to support."

Those were not the "good old days" for gender equality.

[no_hypocrisy]

17. She was no dummy in that movie.

[MADem]

26. Well, if I recall the story, Cary Grant was the ex-husband, and her boss.

She was going to marry some other guy, and he used deceit to get her to work for him one last time covering a big story so he could bust up her impending marriage to the other guy.

It was an amusing film, but the term is still derogatory in this day and age.

[tomg]

64. While I agree with you that in

the day and age, it is a demeaning term, I repectfully disagree with your take on the movie. Cary Grant wants to break up the marriage between Rosalind Russell and Ralph Bellamy because a) she is a great reporter; b) the Ralph Bellamy character is a complete bland blockhead; and c) Grant is nuts about her because, among other things, she is so damn smart and sharp. One of the things I really like about the movie is the politics. I love that movie.

[astral]

51. That may be so, but those old movies portray women as

smart and witty and playful and strong as hell. I don't think we have really 'come a long way' in every sense of the word.

[Motown_Johnny]

11. as the old saying goes "Do you want to speak to the man in charge...

... or to the woman who knows what is going on?"

[Booster]

13. You win. Best answer. lol

[Le Taz Hot]

55. Bingo!

[JuniperLea]

80. Bingo...

We are called Executive Assistants now, but yeah, I'd wear that moniker proudly.

There's a great article in the December 2010 issue of PR Week (I'd link here, but it's subscription only)... by a man I used to work with, about a woman I used to work with, and his praise for her abilities and uber savvy at being an Executive Assistant and how making it to the top requires a good right hand Executive Assistant. I sent him an email and said, say, the woman you describe reminds me of our friend and my mentor... and he said that is exactly who he was writing about.

I'm proud to be part of that history. Call me what you will... EA, GF, it's all the same to me... it spells Goddess;)

[petronius]

5. Your wife is right...

;)

[seabeyond]

34. wrong place

[Botany]

6. There is the correct answer and then there is the smart ..

.... answer. The smart answer is the one your wife thinks is correct.

BTW What might be now considered demeaning or derogatory might not be seen so in the light
and context of an earlier time period.

[Angry Dragon]

40. WoW ............. a 16" waist

you don't see them too often any more

[demmiblue]

7. Yes... woman should not be referred to as girls. n/t

[itsallhappening]

95. Are women who say "girls' night out" sexists?

Uh oh. PC tailspin.

[JanMichael]

9. Do you live in a past decade? Wow! I'm not a time traveler ...nt

[Cid_B]

12. I've heard of "Man Love Thursday"

... but that is probably a different animal all together...

[Iggo]

73. I've heard of 'Mother Love Bone'

...but again, probably entirely different...

[southernyankeebelle]

14. Its outdated.

[MADem]

15. The opposite of MAN Friday is WOMAN Friday--genderly-speaking!!

The opposite of GIRL Friday would be BOY Friday.

I wouldn't use it in this day and age, unless I was being "deliberately ironic."

Subservience isn't "derogatory"--we all have to serve somebody, after all, but that label, for a grown woman, is demeaning in that it denies her the judgment and temperament of an adult, by referring to her as a "girl."

[DaveJ]

18. If you get paid that is not subservience

To do more work than you are paid to do is. Girl Friday presupposes a female is disinterested in a mutually beneficial financial arrangement, but serves for the sheer pleasure of it. So basically I just disagree about everyone being subservient to someone. The reason people work is for money, business arrangements. Some believe the person giving the money is in the position of subservience, depending on one's perspective.

[MADem]

29. Well, I dunno about your definition of subservience.

If you get paid to be a servant, you are still serving. You aren't ENSLAVED, but you are subservient. You can choose to leave that position, but in so doing, you forfeit your livelihood and need to find a new means to support yourself.

I got paid quite well in the military and was "subservient" to my seniors in the chain of command. If you're not the boss, you are answering to the boss. That's what being subservient is all about.

[DaveJ]

58. I did not say that was my opinion

That is the opinion of some. In my opinion, people are equals.

[JuniperLea]

83. Clearly you have no idea how much a good Girl Friday can earn!

We are Executive Assistants now... and I know many who make over $200k, plus bonus, plus stock options, plus perks like mad.

Any good C-level corner office dude worth his or her salt will tell you that their assistant is the real boss... the one who slathers the grease on the gears to keep things moving.

I'm good with it.

[demwing]

38. The person giving the money (employer) cannot

by fired by the person getting the money (employee). In the hierarchy of authority, the employee is obviously subservient to the employer.

If you don't think so, perhaps you could try to have that conversation with your employer...

[DaveJ]

62. So what if they can fire me, that doesn't make them superior.

I can also quit which would also be harmful to them. I would not do that though, because I am a good decent person. Are you implying that employers should be in the position of determining the welfare of an individual? Is this idea something you think is just? I think people are equals and if you think I'm wrong, then we are just going to need to disagree and go our separate ways.

[demwing]

65. You're confusing subservient with personally inferior

in a hierarchy, such as in an employment setting, there are strata of authority. If someone has authority over you it doesn't make them better, it only makes you subservient, and only within that hierarchy.

sub·ser·vi·ent (sb-sûrv-nt)
adj.
1. Subordinate in capacity or function.
2. Obsequious; servile.
3. Useful as a means or an instrument; serving to promote an end.

You are concentrating on the definitions that are most negative, and assigning some sort of class status, when the primary definition is all about function.

People have equal rights under the law, but in an employment capacity, or when comparing job functions, some roles are subservient to others. That's not subject to opinion. Currently, under the vast majority of all possible situations in this country, that's just the way things are.

If that's enough for you to go your separate way, then I can't stop you, but you should know that no one is insulting you, so freaking relax.

[DaveJ]

69. I see no gray area on this

I'm aware of the traditional perspective, and believe it to be old school, and totally reject it. The only situation in which MAYBE it's ok to call someone subservient is as a joke. I have a sense of humor. Jokes are fine with me. If anyone seriously thinks one is subservient, then that is another story. Another situation might the the military. War is insanity and might require an entirely different culture. I appreciate and honor those who dedicate their lives to the service of their country. But private life, which is facilitated by the great people in service, is different. In the business world it is not authority but business agreements. If the employer finds my work unnecessary, they stop paying me and I stop providing them with my talent.

I was just shocked to find out that so many are ok with the subordinate/authoritative power structure. Again, I'm aware of its historic roots, but I'm totally against the notion. So I can't really apologize for acting 'over-sensitive'. I'm sure my wife would agree with me on this too, since she and other women have drilled this into my head over the years.

I agree with you only in the extent that historically people have accepted this notion, and many still do, apparently.

If you have ever needed something that only one person or company could provide, and paid them, you might realize that you need them even more than they need you. It is a business relationship, not authority, that these defines these relationships.

[demwing]

75. This is my last attempt at this, because I just don't have the time to invest

you are taking this way too personally.

Human rights are not subservient, so stop playing that card, No one here is making that claim.

In an employer/employee relationship, there is a line of authority. You do not manage your boss, she manages you.

If you don't like that relationship, you have ONE option - quit (of course, in a union shop, you can negotiate, or strike). You can not write up your boss, you can not fire your boss, you can not even subject your boss to any minor disciplinary action. Your position is subservient to her's. It is not personal.

If your boss doesn't like that relationship - in other words, if you do not perform up to minimum standards, they have a variety of solutions. They can send you home for the day; suspend you for three days; place you on probation; change your job title; reduce your wages; move you to a different department; give you a poor review so that you never, ever get promoted; or terminate your employment. Her position has authority.

Who has the authority in that environment? Your boss.

Do you honestly believe it to be any different?

Now if you want to say that your way is better than the traditional way of doing business, fine. In fact, I can't STAND such corporate culture, so if you believe this to be true, and it's not just some rhetorical position you've taken, great! Please go start a business, reinvent these relationships that were are discussing, and let me know how it's working. If you make a success out of it, I will duplicate your methods till the end of time.

[Odin2005]

41. Oh for fucks sake, women call men "the boys" all the time.

[MADem]

47. But they don't call them "You, BOY" or "Boy Friday"

...and when they call them "Boy Toys" the "boys" -- thinking ones, anyway--find it insulting or at least objectifying.

Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls, but if a female boss says to an adult male "You, BOY--do this work" then I would expect said "boy" to be annoyed.

It's just not terribly clever to be deliberately obtuse. If it smells like an insult, it probably is. "Girl Friday" in this century, without any cultural and specific references (like to the film) smells very much like an insult to me.

As I said, I would not use it, except in a plainly ironic context. But hey, "for fuck's sake" or anyone else's, go on ahead and do as you please; just don't whine or pretend to be shocked when someone takes exception to your use of the term.

[jberryhill]

93. Best Boy

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_boy


In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy: best boy electric and best boy grip. They are assistants to their department heads, the gaffer and the key grip, respectively.

[Mz Pip]

19. seriously there

are a lot worse things to disagree about than 40s colloquialisms.

[hlthe2b]

20. I sort of think referring to a grown woman as a "GIRL" is rather demeaning...

You could probably ask SC Governor Niki Healy about that one... (she was guilty of belittling a reporter she didn't like by calling her a "little girl"..

So, regardless of the rest of the job description, I'd stay clear of it for those reasons alone.

[pipi_k]

21. No "one size fits all" answer....

Some will find it offensive and demeaning.

I don't.

:shrug:


On some more thought...it probably would have offended me when I was younger. Now I'm 58, and for some reason it doesn't upset me. Go figure...

[whistler162]

22. Remember the two rules of marriage

1 - Your wife is always right.
2 - When she is wrong see rule 1.

But, you need to watch both versions of the movies. The term is neither derogatory or demeaning.

[treestar]

23. Hey I'm not getting in the middle!

Seriously, maybe it's the Man/Girl thing - Man/Woman are equivalent and Boy/Girl are, Man/Girl, not so much.

[DesertFlower]

24. in '68 i had an office position where i was

referred to as a "girl friday". my employer said i was his girl monday, tuesday, wednesday, etc.

[Betsy Ross]

25. Referring to a female, adult professional as a girl

is derogatory.

[Odin2005]

44. Is women calling adult males "boys" derogatory?

Or is only bad when us evil pig men do it? :eyes:

[EstimatedProphet]

61. It is when it is in the same context

If we're all hanging out with the boys, then no. Same as if a woman has a night out with the girls. But if someone called me an "office boy" I'd deck the SOB.

[RadiationTherapy]

104. It is demeaning to imply an adult is a child because we live in a world of power dynamics.

There are some euphemisms and groups that have integrated the words, but children, right or wrong, are powerless in our civil society and adults are not.

[Odin2005]

106. You are confusing different uses of diminutive statements.

In English they can be used derogatorily, but they are also used to indicate affection, closeness, and informality.

[Arctic Dave]

27. I don't know. Is right hand man considered sexual? nt

[EFerrari]

36. No but calling a working man a boy would be a put down.

Same thing.

[Arctic Dave]

37. Not necessarily.

I called guys that have worked for me "my boys" and I have had guys say the same for me when I worked for them.

[Courtesy Flush]

49. Cowboys would disagree

As would doughboys, and the Backstreet Boys. No word yet from the Beach Boys.

[EFerrari]

52. Special cases really only prove the point.

Call some random man "boy" tomorrow and tell me how it goes.

[jberryhill]

94. Ever read movie credits?

I have never seen movie credits that did not identify the best boy.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_boy

In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy: best boy electric and best boy grip. They are assistants to their department heads, the gaffer and the key grip, respectively.

[renate]

28. well, in one sense it is and in another it isn't

"Man" and "girl" are not equivalent, obviously; the term "girl" is dismissive in comparison.

However, "Man Friday" and "Girl Friday" are both references to specific characters in a book or movie. So in that sense, no, I would say it's not derogatory to use the phrase "Girl Friday" to refer to a woman acting as an assistant. It'd be uncool to come up with the term these days, though, if it had never been used before.

[pkdu]

30. I'd allow either answer as long as its consistent...BUT my own view is

that its not demeaning as the "Man Friday" figure wasnt a servant or coerced.

[TygrBright]

31. Unless you are referring to a pre-adolescent whose parents named her "Friday,"

...it's demeaning.

helpfully,
Bright

P.S. Who won?

[FarCenter]

32. The gender neutral term is "gofer"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gofer

[bemildred]

33. Yep, or aide, or assistant, or ... nt

[seabeyond]

35. right hand man, competent at handling things. should be woman friday. we seem to use girl or lady.

probably has something to do with the obsessiveness of women aging ergo girl or lady, ageless.

[lunatica]

42. I have no problem with it

It means an assistant that usually knows more and is more efficient than the boss.

[Odin2005]

43. No.

[rucky]

45. It was one of the best comedies ever.

and Rosalind Russel's character certainly wasn't demeaning to women.

[Angry Dragon]

46. everyone loved the "Golden Girls"

'Golden Women' does not seem to have the same ring to it

[Zax2me]

48. Dude - you don't know?! She's right. Even when she isn't.

good grief, man.
The wife is ALWAYS right.
I don't care about the question - it doesn't matter.

[seabeyond]

53. i have to wonder why men are continually promoting this. so often, i hear this from men

it really is an insult, as i am told it is a joke. but i hear it way too much it is old.

are you telling me, men are so wimpy and weak, that they cannot stand up with their opinion or argument. that they have to become submissive and weak?

already, we have heard this too many times on this thread. it is so condescending to women.

i dont get why men think this is so funny.

[Zax2me]

54. Because it's true. Here's why. Your guess is wrong.

(Has nothing to do with men being weak, pro/anti-women blah blah )

You can argue 1000 times with men and it is a black and white argument.
For the MOST part, same with women.

You argue with a wife or girlfriend?!
Dynamics CHANGE.
Her feelings can get hurt, confusing you arguing with the way you feel about here. Sometimes men have no radar for this, sometimes she is too sensitive.
It gets to the point where a guy, with SOME (SOME!) women, finds it better to just not argue politics and the like and that is heightened when she is your wife.

[seabeyond]

57. when i got married, the only thing my FIL said, and repeatedly

wife right 100% of the time even when 80%. i didnt say anything, but my mind was processing this fast. it was a wtf. i have comedian channel, and we went on a long trip listening to it for a long period. by the end of the trip i was so tired of hearing, .... never argue with the wife. we all know...

not a couple days later i walked into sears to buy something and the salesman was giving me info and 3 times in that conversation mentioned never arguing with the wife, even though she was wrong. i will often be minding my own business and one of hubbies friends will say that, just out of the blue and i think wtf.

i appreciate your perspective. it is something of late i have been trying to understand. it FEELS insulting to me. it also seems to be a conditioning for men to not talk. if there is an issue, i feel it is better to talk it out (to understand, like this issue), than to not say anything. it sits there. and i am not much into arguing. hubby and i rarely argue and almost never fght. 17yrs and 2, 3 times and nothing compared to most people.

i am going to have to think about this a bet more.

thanks.

[snooper2]

70. I got "lightly" yelled at for making a left instead of going straight last night..

Going to see FIL in a rehab center. I'm driving, baby in back, wife next to me..

So I'm going down Tennyson East and come to the light at Park. The place is on the NorthEast corner of that intersection. So I get in the left turn lane to go in the entrance off Park like I always do.

As soon as I start getting in that left lane...

Where you going! Where you Going? Stay straight...the entrance is right there. I open mouth, I know, I'm going in the other entrance right over there. I'm driving it's no big deal.

At this point I'm like, okay, just shut your mouth snooper. Then I get a left turn green signal while everybody wanting to go straight through intersection is still sitting at the red.

Don't do it Snooper, keep it shut...
But mouth didn't listen to brain...

See honey, I would have still be sitting at that light had we gone straight.

Stupid Snooper, stupid :rofl:

[seabeyond]

72. love it snooper. thanks for playing along

my husband is the one that nags on the driving. i drive all alone most of the time, but when we take my car cause it holds all of us, i drive. it is amazing how all of a sudden i am incompetent and unable to get myself somewhere without his instruction.

then on the other hand, his mother never stops with his father, and drives me batty.

so you made a point to your wife. didnt keep your mouth shut.

:shrug:

works for me. lol. i would laugh and say, yup... and keep mouth shut in future.

[In Jest]

50. Your wife is right

Do not argue.

[mojowork_n]

56. The name didn't just come out of nowhere, you know

There was once an author, who wrote a story about a shipwreck:



A white Englishman finds himself all alone -- he thinks -- on a small island,
until he sees a "naked footprint" in the sand.

When he eventually enslaves the "savage" who had left the footprint, he bestows
on him the singular honor of being named for the day of the week on which he was first put
into the service of his master.

Friday



So, yeah, whatever the studio moguls did or didn't do with the movie(s) they made back
in the day, the ultimate origin of the term is just a little bit demeaning.

[msanthrope]

76. If you'd actually read the book, you'd realize that Friday was never enslaved, and Crusoe repents

of the slave-trade long before Friday even appears. RC is an anti-slavery screed.

Please, do read it.

[mojowork_n]

77. I most certainly *did* read the book.

In grade school, when you probably did, too.

RC is no Uncle Tom's Cabin, and it wouldn't have been right to expect it to be. (50 years before Wilberforce
was born.) The book's one part as-based-on-the-read-story of Alexander Selkirk, and one part based-on-a-Chrisitan
guide book by Dafoe's childhood friend, Cruso,

There most certainly are moral and religious themes in the book. It's chock full of 'higher values' and
'higher purposes.' The gentle Hand of Divine Providence, which always reveals itself on Crusoe's birthday
for one thing. But there's no question who's the boss of whom, and who mostly gets to carry the luggage,
or fetch the water, and who gets to walk in front, more fully deserving of the reader's attention.

A quick and dirty look up confirms:

"Modern readers may also note that despite Crusoe's self-proclaimed superior morality, he uncritically accepts the institution of slavery."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe

But whoever's right, the book can be read -- for free -- here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/521

[msanthrope]

84. I taught RC--and would have graded you "F" for using Wikipedia.

I'm sorry you missed the point of the story--the growth of RC, and his conversion to 'true' Christianity and his rejection of his past life of sin--including slavery and the slave trade. Defoe was a Puritan, and his hero reflects Puritan values.

At the end, the island is claimed and slavery is forbidden because of RC.

[mojowork_n]

89. You're still wrong, and so were Puritan values

However many decades it's been since I read Robinson Crusoe, there's no way you
can try and dress that book up as a paean to equality. The hero of the book is
chiefly against SPANISH slavery. He's patronizing, paternalistic and (to borrow
Ms. Austen's word) condescending in the extreme.

It's "Heart of Darkness" on an island. Read Chinua Achebe's essay on Conrad:

http://kirbyk.net/hod/image.of.africa.html

It was a different place and a different century but Dafoe could have been Conrad's
torch bearer and guide.

Edit to add quote:

After he had slumbered, rather than slept, about half-an-hour, he awoke
again, and came out of the cave to me: for I had been milking my goats
which I had in the enclosure just by: when he espied me he came running
to me, laying himself down again upon the ground, with all the possible
signs of an humble, thankful disposition, making a great many antic
gestures to show it. At last he lays his head flat upon the ground,
close to my foot, and sets my other foot upon his head, as he had done
before; and after this made all the signs to me of subjection, servitude,
and submission imaginable, to let me know how he would serve me so long
as he lived. I understood him in many things, and let him know I was
very well pleased with him. In a little time I began to speak to him;
and teach him to speak to me: and first, I let him know his name should
be Friday, which was the day I saved his life: I called him so for the
memory of the time. I likewise taught him to say Master; and then let
him know that was to be my name: I likewise taught him to say Yes and No
and to know the meaning of them.

Rightly or wrongly, that's the image from the book that I carried away.

[msanthrope]

100. Of course he's not calling for equality.

A facile mistake thay many students make is judging the past by contemporary expectations. You don't seem to have a realistic expectation of Defoe, so you are disappointed in him.

But you missed the point of the passage. Who is milking the goats? Is Friday acting in accord with his culture? Does RC treat him throughout the book as a slave or as a trusted servant?

If you are looking for equality, you won't find it. But you will find a recognized and noted anti-slave narrative that influenced Puritans and others. You know-the people who helped found this country?

It's pretty obvious you haven't read Jane Austen's Mansfield Park or Conrad's Heart of Darkness. One should not cite authors one is not familiar with.

[mojowork_n]

105. *I* missed the point of the passage???

I'm disappointed in you because it's obvious you're a self-satisfied, patronizing twit.
Or you wouldn't be so incapable of recognizing an authoritarian, hierarchical, biased
narrative when it's staring you in the face.

What's not to miss in that passage? The 'inferior' creature kneels down and places the
foot of the white one on his own head. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Jefferson Davis, John C.
Calhoun and -- for that matter -- the Copperheads and Know Nothings in NYC who rioted
and hung random people from lamp posts would not have objected to anything in that passage.

Are you kidding? The people who founded this country were (Virginia) slave-owners or (Plymouth)
holders of indentured servants/slaves. ( http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/plymouth/Galle1.html )

Crusoe's milking the goats because he doesn't trust his newfound "friend" to do the job.

He's the model for English colonialism so of course, a distinction must be made between
the Spanish model of slavery, and the well-oiled, smoothly functioning 'happy' arrangement
by which the English demonstrate their own superiority.

That only thing that's obvious to me is that even if you tried, you'd probably never
understand Achebe's criticism of Conrad, or how that perspective might affect one's
reading of Dafoe.

[msanthrope]

101. Dupe

[Jamastiene]

108. I would say it is a lot demeaning,

but that is just my opinion. As much as I loved the Disney version of Robinson Crusoe, the book gagged me at every turn of the page.

[EstimatedProphet]

59. Yes it is - "girl" instead of "man".

[MilesColtrane]

63. THe "girl" part smacks of condescension to me.

If you wanted a opposite gender equivalent of "Man Friday", you'd call someone a "Woman Friday".

[Romulox]

66. No, and one has to work very hard to try to make it so. nt

[snooper2]

67. This thread right here has the DU population showing it's age again...

lol..

What a stupid term anyway. Assigning gender to a day of the week :eyes:
I was speed reading OP and saw Friday, movie, first thing that popped in my head was Last Friday? Ice Cube?





Then I was like, Freaky Friday with Lohan? WTF you folks talking about :rofl:

[mojowork_n]

78. They're called "books."

Libraries used to be full of them, until the budget cuts closed them all,
and cut back the librarians in the schools.

[slackmaster]

68. It's no more demeaning than Man Friday, and far less so than Yes Man.

Or Lounge Lizard.

[calendargirl]

71. Does anyone even use that term anymore?

Seems irrelevant. And for the record, I'd much rather be called a Girl Friday or secretary than an "office technician." Whose job is it to rename professions to placate the politically correct masses anyway?

[mainer]

74. "Gal Friday" might be less demeaning

It's the "girl" part that gets me.

[JuniperLea]

79. As an Executive Assistant....

It doesn't bother me at all. I've called myself that many times... I consider it a compliment because the Girl Fridays of yore were real movers and got things done when others failed.

I've even dressed as a Ghoul Friday on Halloween;)

There is enough in the world to be pissed about... we don't need to stretch a complimentary title into something it isn't. Hell, I wanted to be an Executive Secretary, but by the time I was one, I couldn't call myself that!

Ask any top man in the corner office who it is that runs their business... just ask them.

[karynnj]

86. To me is sounds dated - something used maybe in the 1950s

and the meaning was similar to man Friday, which I have never heard.

[Mr Deltoid]

90. I always thought it meant 'Sidekick'

I personally prefer, 'Mini me'

[jberryhill]

92. Ever see "Best Boy" in movie credits?

[Cerridwen]

96. Well, what was the outcome? Who 'won'? You or your wife? n/t

[ret5hd]

99. Who, in a situation such as this, do you think "won"?

I admitted defeat and returned to my designated spot on the couch and turned the TV up 3 or 4 clicks seconds after informing her that i was posting the question here!

[emilyg]

97. No.

[eridani]

98. Reminds me of an old joke involving translations of what scientists say

--vs. what they mean.

"Thanks to Joe Blow for expert technical assistance and Jane Doe for valuable discussion."

= "Thanks to Joe Blow who did all the work and Jane Doe who told me what it meant."

[Mimosa]

102. Quaint. Nobody uses it any more.

What a yawner of an OP.

[marions ghost]

109. yeah depressing...

who cares? Are we all living back in Mad Men days?

People who go around calling women "girls" in any business setting are hopefully going the way of the Dodo.

:boring:

[WinkyDink]

110. Just don't say, "You're right, little lady!"