General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIs "gal Friday" still a socially acceptable term for an assistant?
I never read Robinson Crusoe.
But isn't the character of Friday an indigenous person encountered by the castaway who becomes a devoted servant?
So in the context of a modern female assistant, the reference seems quite tainted with a white and male supremacist worldview.
ok_cpu
(2,140 posts)who wasn't an octogenarian white man.
Ping Tung
(1,170 posts)Even when it was commonly used and "acceptable" I thought it sounded degrading.
ok_cpu
(2,140 posts)It is degrading. Only times I've heard it used were by men who hang on to their other degrading terms that they should have evolved beyond. The men who also toss the notepad to the woman in the room and tell her to take notes.
poli-junkie
(1,108 posts)leftieNanner
(15,642 posts)I'm not even very fond of "gal".
obamanut2012
(27,698 posts)Beaverhausen
(24,554 posts)Am I right fellow assistants?
snowybirdie
(5,553 posts)Executive Assistant, I'd say NO, and Hell NO!
rsdsharp
(10,010 posts)after I stopped the bleeding, Id never get any more administers assisted.
Srkdqltr
(7,472 posts)And cheer for her, the woman who runs everything.
Yes I know, it's brutal.
Tommy Carcetti
(43,476 posts)LeftInTX
(29,629 posts)"What's a girl Friday?"
Answer: "Well, ummm..You can do better than that. You're going to college" I never got a clear answer. It sounded like fun to a teenager. But I think that's why they used the term...
Igel
(35,981 posts)"Gal Friday" cropped up later. It's the grandkid.
Some said it was sexist--"man" versus "gal." The daughter term (yeah, it's two-way gendered) was "girl Friday." That was deemed sexist and "gal Friday" was better. By then standards, but things have gotten worse so we expect more of people.
(BTW, "man Friday" goes back way before the 1950s.)
On edit: Because some want to be believed "on trust" while disbelieving "on principle"--life's asymmetric like that--here's a link.
LeftInTX
(29,629 posts)Great acting. Don't remember the plot, but it's funny and the acting is great.
Kennah
(14,451 posts)They chuckle.
DemocraticPatriot
(5,410 posts)having a 'feast' on the beach of the island, and were about to devour him. In his gratitude for being saved, and in the custom of his tribe, Friday dedicates his life to serving Crusoe.
Jedi Guy
(3,308 posts)Iggo
(48,193 posts)Seriously though, Ive been working in office settings for a couple of decades, and Ive observed modern men dont usually complain about being called guys, but modern women dont respond well to being called gals. Unless youre the boss. And youre a hundred. Like I said, 1950 called
meow2u3
(24,899 posts)It's more accurate a term than "gal Friday."
David__77
(23,863 posts)I have heard an older man say girl Friday, and it is quite generally cringe inducing in my opinion. Tied to gender based concepts of what type of labor should be done by whom.