SNP’s word of the day: Gal

You should know it because: Yesterday, on the Atlantic‘s website, Lily Rothman proposed a “reclamation” of the word “gal.” I don’t know when gal had such politically troublesome connotations that reclamation is necessary/possible, but Rothman doesn’t like being called “girl,” and here we are. I feel her point. “Girl” is infantile and trifling; we cling to it for too long, not only because we’re not ready to be women but because in a gross sociological way it remains better to be a girl. Innocence is valued in us; experience in men. Youth, or the sustained impression thereof, is our armament; age, and the power that comes with it, is theirs. I wish things weren’t so binary, but how?

“As a 20-something female, there are moments, romantic and professional and Shania-Twain-approved, when I feel like a woman,” writes Rothman. “Other times, I really do feel like a girl (though not as often as I am called one). I never feel like a lady” (ed note: CONCUR) “except in announcements made also to gentlemen and I only feel like a dame when I watch old movies. What I feel like most of the time is a guy. A female guy. There is a solution. There is a word to describe this phase. There is a female equivalent of guy. We can reclaim it from the realm of the ridiculous, restore it to its proper place, and use it to even out the inequality in terminology that persists between the sexes. The word is gal, and gal is a great word.”

The only problem is that I don’t think “gal” is a great word. For one, it rhymes with “pal”; ewww. For two, it means “girl or young woman,” whereas “guy” is just a slangier “man.” I’m not sure I’m willing an ugly word to slightly lessen inequality, but I don’t want to dismiss Rothman’s fairly valid argument without a better alternative. My friend Richard half-jokingly suggests “gyal,” à la Caribbeanites, but I’m still taking suggestions. Anyone??