Is "gal Friday" still a socially acceptable term for an assistant?

[Frasier Balzov]

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]

1. Never heard anyone use the term

who wasn't an octogenarian white man.

[Ping Tung]

2. I am an ocotgenarian white man who's never used the term.

Even when it was commonly used and "acceptable" I thought it sounded degrading.

[ok_cpu]

6. Wouldn't expect you or anyone here to have

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]

3. "Personal Assistant" is now the common vernacular

[leftieNanner]

4. Not since Rosalind Russell did that movie

I'm not even very fond of "gal".

[obamanut2012]

5. no

[Beaverhausen]

7. The only acceptable term for an assistant is THE PERSON WHO RUNS THE PLACE

Am I right fellow assistants?

[snowybirdie]

8. As a one time

Executive Assistant, I'd say NO, and Hell NO!

[rsdsharp]

9. If I'd every used that term with my administrative assistant,

after I stopped the bleeding, I’d never get any more administers assisted.

[Srkdqltr]

10. I say he should say it . Then we can count how many times his head bounces.

And cheer for her, the woman who runs everything.

Yes I know, it's brutal.

[Tommy Carcetti]

11. ...No? nt

[LeftInTX]

12. My paper used to have ads. This was in the 70's when I was job hunting.

"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]

17. It started as "my man Friday."

"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]

19. 1940 - His Girl Friday - Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. She's his crazy assistant.

&ab_channel=RottenTomatoesClassicTrailers

Great acting. Don't remember the plot, but it's funny and the acting is great.

[Kennah]

13. I've asked Admin Assistants, "How's your kid?"

They chuckle.

[DemocraticPatriot]

14. In the book, Robinson Crusoe rescued Friday from cannibals who were

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]

15. I prefer "secret weapon". I use that term for my right-hand people, the ones I rely on to do things right. N/T

[Iggo]

16. 1950 called and wants its jargon back.

Seriously though, I’ve been working in office settings for a couple of decades, and I’ve observed modern men don’t usually complain about being called guys, but modern women don’t respond well to being called gals. Unless you’re the boss. And you’re a hundred. Like I said, 1950 called…

[meow2u3]

18. AFAIK, they call them office managers now

It's more accurate a term than "gal Friday."

[David__77]

20. I don't think so.

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.