Alice Walker on "Guys"

I learned recently that all the way back in the 1980's, Alice Walker warned women at one of the early women's music festivals of the dangers of calling one another 'guys'.  In this women-only space, she urged these women to stop it.  Thirty some odd years later, this is still happening and probably is way more pervasive. Now in the years of 2000's whenever I have attempted to 'unlearn' women and men from this linguistic misogynist programming in public, I receive all sorts of defenses like: I'm from up North or the Midwest or the West or or or (as if that creates some sort of amnesty or excuse); I don't mean anything by it, I'm just trying to be inclusive (actually as Julia Penelope wrote about in Speaking Freely, this is a grand example of 'false inclusion'); or they look at me like I have just insulted them ten different ways....The defenses are astounding.

I searched Alice Walker today hoping to find something that she said about this in the past and come to find out, she is still saying the same thing.  Because we are still being called, "Guys."  For Goodness sakes!!

Thank you, Alice Walker, again and again and again....The fight is not over.

Following this post is another one that will link you to a YOUTUBE video of her speaking several years ago.  You can also find her writing about the topic in 2006 for In These Times: http://inthesetimes.com/article/print/2906/all_praises_to_the_pause/.