does anyone else get wierded out by this?

I am female and sometimes people refer to me as "mate"

and I don't like it.. I see it as a guy term

[TishaBuv]

Here the kids say “dude”. My son calls me dude sometimes. Like, “Dude, I can’t believe that happened.” Maybe “mate” is something like that where you are.

[marvin_pa]

You could argue that it's a reflection of society becoming less obsessed with gender specific terms. Also, Dudette/Matette sound a bit odd.

[ShadowGX]

It doesn't bother me, I just see it like a general non-gendered term. Of course, I'm not from the UK so I might just not know the intent, I just talk to folks from there every once in a while in my internet travels.

[ArchieAus]

I see the term "mate" as a prominently Aussie term . I do hear males call females that in a work environment at time . I see it in that situation as one person wanting to treat the other as equal and not to focus on their gender , but their role , in what used to be a male dominated industry . In social circles I hear it much less often , but do on occasions . I've never seen a female arc up about being called "mate" . Would I ever call a female "mate" ? ...not in 1,000,000 years would I ever do that , but that's just me . If I have the time to say mate , I also have the time to say your name , if I don't know your name I can read it on your shirt ( which we in the mining industry insist on doing to ourselves these days ) so no "mate" required .

I hear that term from my UK and Aussie friends. It's like using buddy to me. A sign of friendship. No biggie.

[~Christina]

I have a friend here on PC that uses the word Mate and they live here in the states and always has.

Im not bothered by but I can understand some people would be bothered

Can you talk with this person about how it bothers you?

[poorlittlefish]

I'd rather be called "mate" than "love", I suppose!

[WishfulThinker66]

I am a 51 year old woman and pretty much all of my children's friends call me 'dude' - they always have since they were young teens.

[divine1966]

Are you talking about very young people? Teens tend to call whoever and whatever. Like bro lol I really don’t care. I spend all of my weekdays with teens. I have high tolerance for nonsense haha Or are these grown up people?

[eskielover]

I would actually prefer "mate" to "sweety" or "sweetheart".

[possum220]

Originally Posted by poorlittlefish

I'd rather be called "mate" than "love", I suppose!

That depends on who is saying it for me.

As an aussie female there seems to be the way of saying hello to a group of people and it's normally "Hi Guys" regardless of the gender.

If it really bugs you that some-one calls you mate then tell them. Maybe they have forgotten you name and just mate as a filler to cover their brain gap.

But I guess we don't know what to call chicks any more...

I still think cave men were on to something by "actions speak louder than words"

[eskielover]

I still think cave men were on to something by "actions speak louder than words"

lol....yea, hit them over the head & drag them home

[s4ndm4n2006]

Originally Posted by raging vortex

does anyone else get wierded out by this?

I am female and sometimes people refer to me as "mate"

and I don't like it.. I see it as a guy term

Even if one sees it as a "male" term, it's not something to be weirded out about.

Lots of people use terms that may seem male oriented used as a general term at others. Dude, mate, guys...

I say "hi guys" at everyone in chat. I use the term "dude" a lot at both males and females and in no way is that a derogatory thing. I know many of my aussie friends will use mate, generally too, in the same way

I have a male friend who calls me mate, I find it weird too.

Oh man, I feel bad I am the only one who calls 'you' to girls and gets replied with "you" both in real life and over the internet... yes, a few girls call me by my first name, but I am not in their interest either.. friends, yes, of course, but not even a half of a girlfriend....

Recent guy friends call me by my first name and the old ones call me by my surname.