I really really really can't stress strongly enough

I am pretty certain this has been addressed before. I think the feature on "You Guys" might even be in the book (my books and mags aren't sitting next to the desktop at the moment). Perhaps it is time for this issue to be revisited and debated?? Personally, I prefer "you all," too. But there are those who believe that using "you guys" is empowering.

i agree, i hate hearing it -- and yet i say it myself all the time without noticing -- or i notice and am annoyed with myself. fucked up as it is, i think that's often the case with deeply ingrained habits and especially speech patterns. personally, it would help to be called out on it when someone hears me using it.

but it was audrey bilger's article that made clear to me how important it is and how accepting it or seeing it as nongendered really just reinforces the the notion that maleness is universal and femaleness is not. for me it has become one of those tiny things that is actually a big deal. (and it has been REALLY HARD to train myself not to use it. i say y'all with my tongue in my cheek, 'cause how else can a raised-in-new-york-city girl use it?)

It certainly is a struggle to erase "you guys" from my vernacular, but I'm slowly getting better. I can absolutely appreciate the internalized sexism and erasure of female importance the use of this term embodies. Like others have said, I like replacing it with y'all, you kids, you folks, hey monsters...

I'm wondering what people think of using the word "dude" indiscriminately as well? I personally think that I'd have a more difficult time letting go of this one even though I use it less often, because it carries some ridiculous teen-age sentimentality for me and I kind of love dragging it out. I realize it's less prevalent, as it's use is somewhat culturally and generationally limited. But are people equally bothered by this term?

this isn't going to be a popular opinion and maybe i am just being contrary to the cause, but 'you guys' and 'dude' and 'lady' doesn't bother me. i kind of find it cool when we fuck them up and turn them upside down a bit. my son calls my best male friend 'lady' for instance. i call my dear women friend from college 'dude'. i would rather be called a 'dude' than a 'folk'. i like the word 'dyke' but not 'lesbian'. and i don't want to be called a 'folk'. what are we all to do with this language debate?

I used to think making a big deal about "you guys" was fairly trivial in relation to the other issues we face until I read that oft quoted piece in Bitch magazine no. 18 some years ago. It absolutely resonated with me that to accept use of this term reinforces the concept that maleness is universal and femaleness is not (just as Lisa Jervis points out here), so I stopped using it. Once you break the habit, you never look back.

Interestingly, here in Ireland I find I am even more annoyed by the term "the lads". Lads (men) can be lads, and a group of people that includes women can be referred to as "the lads" but a group of women is referred to as "girls" - regardless of age. I am in my late thirties and often grind my teeth to dust when I hear 20 year old guys in my office refer to me as "that girl". I tell them: "I'm not a girl, I'm a woman". And they pretty much poo themselves. "Yis" is an acceptable plural to "you" but is falling out of favour.

As American culture and language become more and more popular amongst the upwardly mobile Irish yuppie set, I hear "guys" being used more and more. Why can't we import something useful from America like...oh I don't know...Bitch magazine (for starters)!

I'm from Pittsburgh, and most of us do say "yins". I think it's a good neutral substitute, but I sure do get odd looks when I say it outside of my city, haha.

I'm certainly not a fan of 'you guys,' but the thought of replacing it with y'all just doesn't sit well with me.
I actually say 'you people' quite a bit but unfortunately, that can also come off as being offensive in certain situations.

After living in the South for years, I've given into using "you all," although I try to catch myself and say it properly ("all of you"). I was born in New York, so I can't bear to say "y'all" on purpose. I agree with the high school sentimentality of calling friends "dudes," but I always said it in reference to a group of female friends, or at least while talking to them. I frequently call my closest straight male friend and my closest female friends "babe," so I think of it as either gender-neutral or intentionally subverted in that limited context. But I would never use the word with anyone else. What really bothers me is hearing purported feminists use the phrase, "Oh boy!" It just grates against fiber of my linguistic being...

On the other side of gendering, being called "girl" doesn't bother me, so long as it comes from another woman - which I think is a bit of a Southern thing, as well. A few other female friends also use "chica" because we grew up in Arizona where Spanish is prevalent. And some women mean "grrrl" when they say it, which they use for a feminist context - a theatre camp for young women here in Nashville uses it. I don't mind it when other members of the LGBTQ community and friends use "dyke," but I think it sometimes offends me coming from strangers since it has had a negative context in the past. I'd rather just be called a lesbian. But that always makes me wonder: Should it bother us that who is using these phrases matters? Language is encultured and symbolic, so it matters who is speaking just as much or even more than their word choices. I do think it's time for the print magazine to revisit this issue.

"You guys" doesn't specifically bother me, but being from the South originally, I still favor "y'all." It's such a perfect abbreviation, AND it sounds friendly. Additionally, if you happen to dislike enunciation, it rolls off the tongue easily enough. Those familiar with Pittsburgh, PA, might also recognize "yins" as a viable alternative. You might have to explain that to more people, though.