Is it okay to say "a female"?

It is widely considered rude to refer to women simply as "females." It sounds dehumanizing. You have correctly understood that using female as a descriptor before some other word to describe a person like "female vocalist" or "female manager" is fine.

Well.. a lot of women consider the term ‘female’ to be dehumanizing.

"Female" as a noun for humans in particular can be icky since that sort of language is often associated with some less than savoury groups so it can come off kind of yucky. It's less bad if you also refer to "males" at the same time but still typically a slight bit strange. It's not to say it's never acceptable, but it's definitely very context-dependant. You might see it in like, a scientific context, but I'd avoid it in usual speech since it can be kind of reductive/dehumanizing.

I wouldn’t. It does rub people the wrong way.

I just want to say right away that I don’t always understand spoken English correctly, so it’s possible I misheard it. Here’s the video where I heard it: https://youtu.be/hMwIhn-8Rfk?feature=shared It starts at 17:18 

It's usually best to avoid using any adjective as a noun when referring to people. When you do, it reduces an entire person to whatever factor you're describing, which can be considered dehumanizing. Using it as an adjective is fine in most cases, though. "I saw a female." ❌ "I saw a female singer." ✅

When in doubt just say woman (or man), even if it sounds a bit odd to your ears/grammatically like saying 'woman actor' instead of 'female actor' you can get away with it without too many people thinking you're saying it wrong or questioning you.

If you're referring directly to a person, the better term is woman. As in, "You are a woman." If you say "You are a female" it is taken as an insult. Yes, it's a subtle difference but words take on different meanings over time. Think of it like this, when referring to a hammer, you can call it a "Tool" or you could refer to it as a "Thing". It's not incorrect to call it a 'thing' but it's more accurate to call it a 'tool'. Calling it a 'thing' reduces it a bit and takes away the usefulness it has as a 'tool', which usually serves a purpose. Well, the woman/female is a bit the same way. Woman means a person who is female... but calling someone simply 'female' reduces their entire being simply to their gender. It's a bit like if you were to go up to someone you see sweeping the floor and say "Hey, janitor!" Is that person a janitor? Yes in that case. BUT it's not necessarily nice to address them as such. They have a name, they are more than just their job. Well, a woman is more than just her gender.

Using "female" as a noun is typically considered rude in American English. The video you linked in the comments is apparently for comedic purposes. I personal wouldn't take it too seriously as a representative sample of the language. Some people use do "females" and "males" casually, with no disrespectful intention, but it can be complicated. Certain men do use "female" as a noun with emphatically dehumanizing, misogynist intention. Context also affects this; you will even notice "male" and "female" often used as nouns in law enforcement records and statements. For example, here's a Philadelphia police official describing a slain man. [“As they were approaching, a scuffle ensued with the male and the officers, at which point in time, the male produced a handgun from a bag that he was carrying on his person,” said Stanford.](https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-officer-involved-shooting-armed-suspect/) Whether the police shooting was justified or not, that language is dehumanizing. I'm sure Stanford would disagree, but I digress. In any case, err on the side of caution and stick to using "female" and "male" as adjectives, not nouns.

Referring to someone as “a female” outside of a scientific context is rude. There are some people who do so regularly. That doesn’t make it not rude and those people are often very misogynistic. The person you’re watching likely has some weird views on women. It’s a linguistic quirk people in the manosphere have picked up. To the rest of us it’s a red flag.

There’s a subtle but very real difference in “She is female” and “She is a female.” The former is fine. The latter should be avoided.

It’s a bit complicated and nuanced, but a good rule is you should try to use the terms “women” and “girls” (depending on which is appropriate) whenever possible. “Females” can be considered dehumanizing, _especially_ when a speaker/writer would use “guys/men/boys” in the same context. Recently, it tends to be often used in spheres where men make sweeping, reductive statements about women, so the connotation has become even worse. e.g. “Men like to xyz, whereas females like to abc” is very often considered degrading because men/women are getting different language treatment. Even in contexts when men are not explicitly referenced can carry this association, like “I was dating this female, and xyz”. In that sentence, “woman” or some equivalent is readily available, and it would be odd to hear the equivalent sentence with “male”, so this would be often considered degrading. However, there are some contexts where it’s completely acceptable: “In humans, the male reproductive system xyz, whereas the female reproductive system abc”.

Usually if someone refers to women as "females," such as "females are \[descriptor\]," or just use "females" as a replacement for "women," it is at least rude, if not offensive. This terminology is most commonly used by misogynists, particularly common among the redpill community, and/or Andrew Tate and people aligned with him.

I would definitely avoid using male and female as nouns for humans. It sounds derogatory and objectifying. It’s common police-speak also, with the same mood, or worse. A man, a woman; a female officer, a male suspect.

As a native english speaker I feel like apologizing for this. You're just trying to learn the language, "female" is a normal and commonly used word, and people have thrown down a million culture wars landmines around it. I'm sorry.

It is fine to use it as long as it is relevant and has a purpose, in the same way you do not add needless adjectives to something, because it makes you seem as if you are focusing or specifying something when really it does not matter. “The relay race team had four males and three females” is perfectly fine because it is pertinent to biological differences that may be relevant to relay racing, given that or something to that element is the reason. Terms like woman, girl, madam, et cetera, are derivative of “female”, so it is fine to use “female” in an overarching term in certain, though not all, contexts. It is rather peculiar to use a specific gendered term like “men” and general gendered term like “male/female” in the same sentence unless there is a specific and relevant purpose as mentioned above. It is almost always fine to use these terms while referring to non-human animals. Humans are also animals, and we often use the terms “female” and “male” to refer to ourselves as well; do not let anyone else tell you different. You just need to ensure there is a clear purpose behind it, in the same way you would not mention someone works as a construction worker unless actually relevant.

male and female have a detached scientific connotation when used as a noun. you'll see it in appropriate contexts like medical dramas, newspaper headlines reporting crimes. by nature of association with these concepts, it comes across as not recognizing someone as a person when using it in other contexts. This can make it feel offensive when used in those contexts. fine: > A 25 year old male came in with a fever > The suspect is a middle-aged female with brown hair and a scar on her neck potentially offensive: > Two men and 5 females are coming to the party The offensiveness is notably less strong when you say male as a noun, and stronger when you do the above and use female but man. Being consistent and using both males and females is better than using female with another male coded group. When used as an adjective there is no issue.

Use it as an adjective, not a noun. When used as a noun it comes off as dehumanizing and offensive. It's associated with very sexist rhetoric. Incels and men who see women as inferior will refer to women and girls as "females" to subtly dehumanize them as inferior.

No. Saying “a female” is dehumanizing and insulting to women. It shouldn’t be used outside of clinical or military settings to refer to people. You can use it as an adjective. I have a female doctor. The female attorney. Make and female locker rooms.

Male and female can be used as adjectives when describing a person without being rude. (Female officer, male teacher, etc.) But using them as nouns to refer to people is rude and dehumanizing. Unfortunately there are certain subcultures, of young men especially, who have taken to referring to women as "females" and have begun trying to normalize that. I would not emulate those people. Calling a woman a "female" is generally still rude and dehumanizing.

It would sound better to say “a woman”

Ok but who gets jealous when guys play hard to get?

It's rude, but there are rude people who think it's normal.

do not use "a female" by itself, it's considered misogynistic. The police use them as shorthand (fuck the police). The thing is that nobody ever says "a male"; they only talk about "females". It's dehumanising.

Ok so the issue is using "female" or "male" as a noun when referring to humans, rather than an adjective. You could call somebody your female friend, for example (though, I would avoid that unless it's relevant to the conversation, in the same way you wouldn't refer to somebody as "my black friend, Jim" unless it were actually relevant to the conversation), but to say, for example, "our tennis team has 5 females and 6 males on it" reduces those people down to their biological sex and nothing else. Does that make sense?

The classic (bad, sexist) example is referring to "men and females". You'll also often hear crime reports that talk about "males". Both of these usages are dehumanizing and I would discourage you from using them as it makes the men and women in question sound like they're animals or test subjects, not real people.

It almost always sounds weird and/or rude. When used in media it often signals that the speaker is objectifying women, and probably doesn't interact with many women in their daily life.

Female is fine as an adjective: Female doctor Female vocalist Female friend It is usually offensive as a noun when referring to humans: >The females went shopping. Always offensive when paired with a different word for males: >Men are usually larger than Females. The noun exception is in technical documents, when referring to all ages. >Researchers decided to revisit a study conducted 10 years ago that found females were excluded from most biomedical research based on fears of female hormonal variation complicating the findings.

Might as well go all the way and say a "hu-mon female" like a Ferengi.

It's OK **if** it's not a specific person. Not rude. Perfectly normal. So, it's fine to talk about female actors, or female friends. It's not very good to say "my female friend" or "Chris is female". It's kinda weird to feel a need to specify.

Generally speaking, it's best to avoid outside of specific contexts like military or medical. Reddit can be extremely opinionated on this topic, so it's probably not the best place to ask, but all the same, you shouldn't use the structure unless confident that it's appropriate for the situation and the audience.

Lmaooo, hey guys look, because of social norms this guy doesn’t think it’s ok to say “female” anymore. Oh I don’t know, maybe because it’s an “ick”? Find Jesus everyone!

No.

Not unless you intend for it to be rude.

It sounds rude and misogynistic, but you'll see rude and misogynistic or just ignorant people using the word that way

Guys, I think the Ferengi found Reddit.

If you’re referring to a dog/cat/pets it’s normal to say “male” or “female”.

Using a female to refer to a person alone often sounds clinical or distancing, kind of like calling someone a client instead of by name. It’s fine in contexts like female athlete or female CEO where it’s descriptive. So yeah, saying just a female can come off as odd or even rude depending on tone.

Yes, but what are you describing as female? The most common usage of female as a noun is when referring to animals in a more biological or impersonal sense—it’s kind of like narrating a nature documentary and sounds a lot more clunky in any other circumstance (that’s probably why humans may find it to be less polite to be referred to as ‘a female’ or ‘the female’). Other usages of ‘female’ tend to be more commonly seen as an adjective, from what I’ve noticed.

Generally speaking using an adjective like female as a noun to describe somebody is seen as quite rude, since it sort of makes their whole identity that specific characteristic. There are exceptions to that which have been explained by others in this thread better than I ever could, but largely speaking if you see somebody saying "females" instead of "women" it's a bit of a red flag

It’s not really rude, just the 10% Will find it rude just to feel offended

Im a native English speaker and I always say "female" and "male". I always found it easier to use the clinical, professional term instead of doing all the nuances of: "is this a man? Is this a boy? Is this a young man?". "She's going to the bar with her female friends." "The females are all in the living room." ^ These sound perfectly fine to me, not rude.

It's very rude, but often the kinds of people making YouTube videos don't know, don't care, or actively intend it rudely.

With human beings, yes it is considered rude.

Grammatically it is okay. Socially, it is considered offensive to say “a female” (or “a male” for that matter) when referring to a human. You can say “a woman” or “a girl” instead. There is nothing in the definition of the word that restricts you from calling a woman “a female,” but most of the people who talk this way are misogynists (people who hate women).

I don’t really think it’s rude or dehumanizing…? I’m a female from Canada, maybe some of us care less / notice less. It just sounds a bit formal to me. If talking about animals I’d say it’s definitely not offensive & very common. Side note, I’m a carpenter, which you don’t typically expect females to be (maybe?) and I really don’t think twice if someone refers to me as a female carpenter. I prefer it to ‘woman in the trades’ because that’s become a bit patronizing over the years. Your English must be very good if you are noticing this type of stuff!!

Since when did saying females and males become dehumanized and derogatory and offensive. How in the world is saying there are more females than males rude how is saying the females did better offensive. Its literally in tons of literatuee mostly studies comparing females and males

Generally, don't use male/female in contexts where you could use man/woman (or boy/girl) instead.

There’s definitely a negative social connotation as well. It’s kind of like a dog whistle for incel/misogynist beliefs and was popularized by harmful influencers like Andrew Tate. Speaking that way can give the impression that you see women as another species devoid from men entirely, even if that’s not the intention.

When describing an animal, yes.

I've got news, friend. People are animals, too.

That’s because human females are called “women” (or girls for children or adolescents).

If you want to learn how to speak respectfully about women, watching videos of men playing video games is not going to help.

Yes, saying "a female" instead of "a woman" or "a female doctor/athlete/character" is considered rude by many native English speakers. Lots of people still do it, though.

Probably not, if you are talking about a woman (and, ergo, a human being) outside of a highly clinical or technical context, and even then maybe not.

Female (adjective) describes a noun. Female (noun) is a nonhuman animal. In effect you’re calling a woman a bitch if you refer to her as “a female”. Used in these contexts both “female” and “bitch” are grammatically considered slurs against women. This concept hasn’t been discussed in the greater culture so people find it hard to explain.

used to be pretty common but in recent years it's taken on a negative connotation as some people started using it in an "othering" kind of way. You'll still see it commonly in research articles and such, but using it in everyday conversation is frowned upon by a lot of people. Edit to add: also standard in formal reports such as police reports, e.g. "two females and a male were arrested following the incident"

Kind’ve a hot button right now due to Incels calling women ‘females.’ I would opt for the word ‘woman’ to describe adult human females, including ‘woman doctor’ (which is itself becoming a bit iffy, may we not just say ‘doctor’?)

To me, the word “female” can sound a bit more scientific/ like a test subject so sometimes it can come off sounding a bit degrading in certain examples. “The female went to the bank.” Feels like a sentence from an animal documentary ex. “The female guards her nest from predators.” “The woman went to the bank.” This sounds more natural.

Female is kinda objectified more, or like generalized, it’s kinda just emotional stuff, it’s not supposed to be offensive they just want it to be

Only for animals. It’s a scientific shorthand, and should not be used for people. It can be used as an adjective. Example: Among anglerfish, the female is often larger than the male.

Context. We are looking for a white female age late 20s early 30s, tattoo of a bunny on her shoulder. Normal and appropriate. Medical form. Circle male or female or write M or F. Appropriate Now I’d like to take a moment to talk to all the females in the audience. Rude. You talk down to a female. You have a conversation with a woman. I’d call her a girl before calling her a female. It’s like something who are anti-woke call women to try to sound progressive or make fun of wokeness. It’s weird. It could also be that because conservatives think that the word woman has been hijacked lgbtq so they are using a different word because now woman means something different. I do not agree with those sentiments. But I think its goal is to differentiate “women” from “females.” Thats why it’s such a new language development. Female linguistically is an umbrella term that includes both girls and females, but all three can be used interchangeably sometimes. You wouldn’t invite a bunch of nine-year-olds to an English tea and call it a women’s banquet, but you might take your friends out to a girls night. Just an observation. I don’t know if it’s right.

It is considered rude, or at least weird, generally but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of people who do it (usually men). People of all kinds do it, but consuming Black media, it's quite common for Black men to casually refer to women as 'females', for example. I'd just not call people that regardless.

“A female” is very rude.

It’s generally not considered acceptable as a noun. As an adjective it’s generally acceptable but can have sorta scientific implications that sometimes come off a bit rude.

As an adjective it's okay. "A female student" As a noun, it's best not to use it to refer to people. Animals are fine. There are exceptions in certain academic, medical, or legal contexts as well. Don't say this. "I saw a female at the park yesterday." Below is a normal thing to say. "I think this stray dog I found is a female." In a law enforcement context, it's more typical to refer to people as females and males. "The suspect is a 32 year-old female."

It's considered rude to use that as a noun, you are likely watching a misogynistic person.

I am a female. I have a female friend who is in her 30s, one in her 40s, and one in her 50s. My closest friends are females. That last sentence is correct, but it would also be correct to say "my closest friends are female."

Theres is nothing inherently wrong about using the word female to refer to women. However, there are people who intentionally use it as a pejorative to dehumanise women and there is a certain type of person who might take offense to being called a female instead of a woman. Men will never care if you call them males however even if you are trying to be offensive

The objection the "female vocalist" is the same as the objection to "female policeman", "female priest", etc: oh, you mean she isn’t a real one.

To tell you the truth as a native speaker I never use male or female unless Im talking about something related to science. If I was describing a manager who is female Id refer to her with pronouns or mention the lady that I ran into. It just truly doesnt have an application in my life outside of science.

While *technically* acceptable, people tend to be a bit grossed out when someone starts using “a female” or “females” instead of “woman” or “women” in non-scientific circumstances. Fairly or unfairly, people often see it as a warning sign for detecting sexism, so unless that’s what you’re going for then I’d avoid it.

I would say saying “a female” specifically can sound quite offensive and misogynistic to a lot of women, especially because a lot of incels and red pill bros use that word to objectify and infer an inferior status to women. “A male” doesn’t have the some misogynistic connotations however it still sounds objectifying and a tad rude, so it’s normally not used when referring to people unless you’re referring to objective biology and not a specific person.

If you refer to a woman as "a female" outside of a medical context you will be assumed to be a sexist asshole.

Can someone explain why it’s always offensive “when paired with a different word for males”? I’m guessing it’s the connotation of the word female instead of “woman” and not the fact that females can’t be compared to males, right?

Saying "Going on a date with a female" would be wrong but "the female changing rooms are just upstairs" OK.

It’s rude to use female and male as nouns.

Police routinely say female or male rather than woman or man.

So woman and man have the categories age, gender/sex (not that they’re the same, but in this instance they serve the same function), and species. Female is only sex. As an adjective, it’s fine—female researcher, female doctor, etc. As a noun, it’s dehumanizing, because it reduces women down to only their sex.

In general "female" or "male" is fine as an adjective (like you noted) but it could be considered rude (or weird or sexist, etc.) to use it when it isn't relevant to the topic/story. This is why you might hear people say "this is relevant later" or something similar (same with saying "black" or "gay" or a nationality etc.). In medical papers or similar writing using "female" & "males" is more normal. The main issue you will hear most often is people using "female" but not "male". They will call men "men" but call women "females" - this is sexist and an intentional dehumanization of women to verbally show them as lesser animals than men.

*Feeeeeeemale* TBH, both male and female sound a bit dehumanising in English. They have a psuedo-scentific vibe to them, just crying out to be rounded out with something a little derogatory or at least negative. The words man and woman have overwhelmingly more positive associations for whatever reason. Voluptuous woman. Attractive woman. Grown woman. A man's man. A real man. A man you can rely on. Even "negative' or at least ambiguous phrases that use the terms seem a little romantic and cool, like "a woman of the night" (sounds classy) or "a man's world" (even though feminists said this a lot negatively to mean a world that excludes women, the term itself actually sounds sort of cool, dapper and Mad Men-ish).

Sometimes young guys, (uneducated sounding) say it.

As other commentors have pointed out it functions fine as an adjective but most people dislike it being used as a replacement for words like "women" or "girls" because female often has a scientific or medical connotation. In fact, it's often used to refer to animals. Thus, referring to women or girls as females often comes off as misogynistic because it seems to compare a specific group of people to animals

No. Female is an adjective, not a noun.

Honeslty just avoid the word entirely when discussing a human. I’ve seen ESLs get roasted in public for it every which way

As an adjective, yes. I wouldn't use it as a noun, it makes you sound like a creepy incel.

Referring to women as 'females' is generally going to come off as if you are an incel or generally misogynistic because people who use the term outside of a medical or scientific context usually fall under one or both of those two. There are narrow exceptions, but probably better to just avoid it until you have a feel for the general acceptability in spoken language.

Essentially never use it as a noun. Man/woman is a noun, Male/Female is an adjective 

It is not rrally used for both peoples and animals. It's however sometimes used in a derogative way to compare a person to an animal. For example, racist say white women and black female. It's very insulting.

Better to avoid using it because too many females find it offensive.

Yes, female can be used, but it can carry other implications, which could be rude. To just call someone "female" is quite weird, though there might be situations were the objective description is warranted (ie, medical or law-enforcement description of an individual) A 'female-vocalist" tells you something about her singing voice, in a way that isn't rude or necessarily sexist. "A female-pianist" is a bit odd, as ones biological sex isn't a significant factor in one's piano playing, but not necessarily rude. "A female-driver" might seem to carry a sexist/discriminatory undertone.

"Female" or "male" as a noun is okay in a medical run report or other thing like that. "A 78 year old female presented with left side chest pain and shortness of breath" – that's fine. "White male mid 20s approx 5'10 180 lbs blue jacket white baseball cap reported checking car doors to see if they were unlocked." That's fine. Using it as an adjective is fine. Using it as a noun in any other context than those official reports is creepy.

Short answer- not really.

Yes.