VEGANGELICA

Ha ha! That Eddie Izzard clip was funny, especially the part about Disney castles. It's true, too...over here keeping any structure that is over 30 years old or so is a struggle. Someone always wants to tear it down and build something Newer and Bigger and Better. Such as giant outdoor aquatic centers. Or malls. Or bigger parking lots. And new housing developments filled with McMansions are given names that sound British to try to make them seem historic and quaint.

About "girls"--I've noticed some older women (60+) often refer to themselves that way, and older men often refer to them as "girls," too. I think they like imagining they are young again, or maybe they just got used to that back in the sexist 1950s.

I usually see "girl" as a derogatory term. Much like "boy" when it is used in a racist way: "Shine my shoes, boy." The problem with "girl" is that people usually don't call grown men "boys" and so calling women "girls" is a way to reduce their importance relative to men's.

But I recognize SOME people must have just grown up saying "girl" without meaning anything bad by it, so I cut them some slack. It's kind of cute, maybe, depending on how the person uses it. Or maybe just depending on the person. I'm thinking of one person in particular I know who seems to use "girl" almost all the time to refer to a woman. It's kind of endearing, like he thinks women are cuddly little puppies.

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