Southern Progressive
Scott linked an old post of his in my comments the other day, and everyone who hasn't already read it should go look at his rant on Southerness. I thought it was hilarious, but what really interested me was a comment stonefishspine left there:
The beauty of y'all is its gender neutrality. Most of my northern friends use the phrase "you guys." The South has long realized that women also exist (though, granted, we Southerners have not always been at the forefront of suffrage and feminism).
Why the hell didn't I think of that before? I've lived in these parts my whole entire life; it's true that we miss the obvious when it's right in front of our face. (And it's true that the South is all too aware that women do exist. It just isn't always sure what to do with them - or with its queers. But that's another post altogether.) "You guys" is always cited as the Northern equivalent of "ya'll," but I grew up saying both. It came from watching The Electric Company every day as a kid. (Warning: This is a thoroughly annoying link, but it plays the theme song and thus illustrates my point.)
When I emailed for permission, GK added this:
I have always found it interesting that most Southern expressions of that type are inclusive. Besides y'all, a number of areas use you-uns (you ones) -- again, gender neutral. I'm not certain of the reason, linguistically, this occurs in the South, but I've always found it fascinating.
As far as American English is concerned, I suspect this is just a Southern thing - as so many things are. I'm wondering what my Yankee readers have to say for themselves here, apart from the "You-guys" bit. Are there any other regional gender-neutralities that I'm not aware of?
Comments
Ah! I'm glad you brought this up! I said "ya'll" habitually until I moved back to Hawaii as a teenager. There, I was STRONGLY advised to drop the "ya'll" and use "you guys," so I did. That was purely regional--had nothing to do with gender.
So, I began using "you guys," and have religiously and without thought, until...
I said "you guys" once in addressing some female friends of mine (here in the South), and one of them was sorely stung by it! She said, "I'm NOT a guy, thank you!" I reassured her I meant no harm by my word choice, but I prefer it to "ya'll." I could understand her point, though.
I still use "you guys."
Posted by: Ailina | February 23, 2003 12:58 AM
Alice Walker wrote a short piece about the essential wrongness of "you guys" a while back. (I went through a Walker phase a while back, and have too much of her stuff around here to easily find where this particular bit is located. Sorry.) She felt the phrase inherently disrespected the female gender by disregarding it. At the time, I thought it was a bit tight-assed feminist. Since I've started studying gender and pronouns, though, I find myself avoiding its usage more and more. I find that "you folks" does the job just as well and fulfills my need for inclusiveness all at the same time. Plus, "folks" is nicely proletariat. (As is "you people," although that always comes out as a little more confrontational.)
Posted by: Krista | February 23, 2003 11:35 AM
Hey, if "you folks" works for you, more power to you. I think breaking any speech habit is a pain until it sets in, but I'd have to say that even though I'm reluctant, I'm willing to change my ways so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.
I guess everyone has her pet peeve. Mine is: "______ like a girl."
I could start saying "everybody" or simply "you." I STILL cannot bring myself to say "ya'll." :D
Posted by: Ailina | February 23, 2003 2:29 PM