[Butterfly*77]

I have a sweet 'little man' - he is a bit of an old soul at times and the nickname suits him well.

[S de Beauvoir]

I really don't like it. To me it seems to take something away from just being a little boy.
Of course I am aware it's only a saying and that those who do use it probably don't mean anything by it, but to me it sounds even a bit bogan. Don't know why.

Bogan? Interesting! I would never have thought that. I wonder why that is.

I understand the feeling that it takes something away from being a little boy. I feel that way too but as another PP said, 'little man' just seems to roll off the tongue easily for me. I don't really know where it came from - my parents perhaps?? If it did, that could explain the 'bogan' link - my family do have a tendancy to be a little boag.

[starseed]

Yeah, interesting topic.

I feel it's along patriarchal lines, and due to more importance being placed on becoming a man than a woman.

As an aside- I have been retraining myself in the way I address groups of women as a way of taking back the concept of "womanhood". I became increasingly aware through my studies (and a FB group for my all-female student colleagues) that everyone always addresses groups of women with things like- "Hi girls" "Hi ladies" "Hey guys", but never as women. Well, we aren't girls, we're certainly not guys, and ladies has particular anti-feminist connotations that I've only begun to be aware of.

So long story short I'm now addressing groups of women as exactly that, "women". I now fail to understand why no one actually refers to women as women.

[BetteBoop]

There was a thread on this a year ago and it completely opened my eyes to how pervasive gender stereotyping really is.

Before that thread (thanks silentmoose) I would unthinkingly, call someone's boy a little man but not in a million years would I patronise a girl by calling her a little woman.

The connotations are entirely different because little woman is traditionally an insult. And it's far more acceptable to baby young girls by calling them little princess or baby girl than it is to baby boys. Boys are men in waiting. Girls are little dolls.

Now I cringe when I hear little man.

[S de Beauvoir]

Yeah, interesting topic.

I feel it's along patriarchal lines, and due to more importance being placed on becoming a man than a woman.

As an aside- I have been retraining myself in the way I address groups of women as a way of taking back the concept of "womanhood". I became increasingly aware through my studies (and a FB group for my all-female student colleagues) that everyone always addresses groups of women with things like- "Hi girls" "Hi ladies" "Hey guys", but never as women. Well, we aren't girls, we're certainly not guys, and ladies has particular anti-feminist connotations that I've only begun to be aware of.

So long story short I'm now addressing groups of women as exactly that, "women". I now fail to understand why no one actually refers to women as women.

Funny you say that, our discussion lead to that same topic. Woman or women can feel so unnatural to say and I committed myself to a similar goal - to be able to use woman/women rather than ladies/girls which seems easier to say. We're clearly thinking along the same lines - you should have been there to join our discussion on the weekend!

[S de Beauvoir]

There was a thread on this a year ago and it completely opened my eyes to how pervasive gender stereotyping really is.

Before that thread (thanks silentmoose) I would unthinkingly, call someone's boy a little man but not in a million years would I patronise a girl by calling her a little woman.

The connotations are entirely different because little woman is traditionally an insult. And it's far more acceptable to baby young girls by calling them little princess or baby girl than it is to baby boys. Boys are men in waiting. Girls are little dolls.

Now I cringe when I hear little man.

Yes exactly - it's ok to become a man but not to become a woman. It's certainly something I want to stop saying. I don't like it but find the words just rolling off my tongue. It's a habit I absolutely want to break.

[la di dah]

Yeah, interesting topic.

I feel it's along patriarchal lines, and due to more importance being placed on becoming a man than a woman.

As an aside- I have been retraining myself in the way I address groups of women as a way of taking back the concept of "womanhood". I became increasingly aware through my studies (and a FB group for my all-female student colleagues) that everyone always addresses groups of women with things like- "Hi girls" "Hi ladies" "Hey guys", but never as women. Well, we aren't girls, we're certainly not guys, and ladies has particular anti-feminist connotations that I've only begun to be aware of.

So long story short I'm now addressing groups of women as exactly that, "women". I now fail to understand why no one actually refers to women as women.

I don't really want to be called that. Its not as grating as "females" (bad experiences with that, personally, it actually gives me a bit of a chill) but I'm not a fan.

And I like "little man," I would use that if I had one. (Hope I do, eventually).

[Emby]

I think it's a very clear reflection of what we value in girls/women versus boys/men.

For adult women, the valued characteristics are youth, inexperience and good looks - sometimes characterised as "innocence". "Girl", and "Lady" fit in well with different aspects of that, but "Woman" doesn't, so much. We're very happy to call adults "girls" and "ladies" but as PPs have noted, we're more reluctant to call ourselves "women" so obviously we don't use that term for our girl children either. Also, the adjective "womanly" brings up connotations of sexual maturity and motherhood, which most people are reluctant to associate with our children.

For men, on the other hand, we value strength, expertise and risk-taking. "Man" fits the first two of these, "Boy" the second. Men are occasionally willing to be regarded as "boys" (eg, "going out with the boys") but not when they're trying to be taken seriously. "Gentleman" - the male equivalent of "lady" is very rarely applied to men by themselves, because it has connotations of softness and wussiness along with politeness and good breeding - it's recognised as a compliment, in a way, but it's complimenting the wrong thing, so people aren't keen on it. Hence you can hear "little man" or "little boy" for boys, but rerely "little gentleman" except in really specific circumstances.

Society is fascinating .

I don't really see this changing in the near future either - a lot of this is quite hard-wired into us, the desire to have the female/nurturer and male/acheiver as our archetypes.

[paddyboo]

"Little Woman" is usually said by a man referring to his wife. I agree with PP's, for a little girl I would be more likely to say "little lady"

[MnM]

I call DS little man and i call DD little lady.