Comments on: Culture: I Call Her My…

By: copp3rred

copp3rred — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:38:00 +0000

Partner is so sterile and de-sexed it would seem like you're trying to slide back into the closet by playing the shady semantics game. It makes me recoil and think of slimy realtors selling swamp land as "water views".

Female BFFs as girlfriends: Older than Oprah. WAY older. Maybe the 40's?

My lesbian friends have always used girlfriend, and being out, it seemed clear. Apparently using it often in sentences will get the point across but for one-offs I guess you need more oomph. Heteronormative "wife" seems to come and go.

By: SZM

SZM — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:55:00 +0000

Very recently I decided that the most expedient way to refer to a girlfriend with whom one co-habitates is as “live-in fuck buddy.”

Totally besides the point of not wanting to reduce relationships to sex, but I just had to share.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:13:00 +0000

Michael, I think it has something to do with Oprah.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:06:00 +0000

Why did women start referring to their female BFFs as “girlfriends” in the first place? That just confuses everyone.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:47:00 +0000

i usually go with girlfriend… however, a few months ago, there was a sort of dire situation when i wanted to distinguish my girlfriend from some long-time friend-who-is-a-girl or bff– and i had to (unfortunately) convey this over email, i used “girlfriend/partner”… although we aren’t really “partner’ed” per se…

By: emily

emily — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:45:00 +0000

I LIKE “partner.” When i was in Europe, everyone was a “partner” – from fling up through husband/ wife/ life-long live-in.

By: A.J.

A.J. — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:21:00 +0000

Boy toy!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:59:00 +0000

what about “trim”? Yeah! like: mom, dad…this is my latest trim”.

By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 22:49:00 +0000

I’ve certainly never gotten to the “going (very) steady” phase, but I’ve always despised “partner”. It’s too ambiguous/sounds like a business relationship.

By: stephanie

stephanie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:10:00 +0000

so, as gays, can we all just agree that partner should only be used as the gay, grown-up way of saying “going (very) steady”?

By: Allison

Allison — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:58:00 +0000

Some of my friends just say “how’s your girl?” when referring to my girlfriend, or “how’s the girl.”

I think I’m pretty impartial, as long as the term “partner” is not used (shudder).

By: Ms. Cavanaugh

Ms. Cavanaugh — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:07:00 +0000

Definitely meant F to M. Changing that.

And I love sweetheart too.

By: Kimberly

Kimberly — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:01:00 +0000

I’m partial to “sweetie” or “sweetheart” because (a) it’s gender neutral and (b) I’m kind of cheesy like that.

Also, I’m sure that a lot of M to Fs would be pretty pissed off if anyone referred to them as “boyfriend.”

By: stephanie

stephanie — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:47:00 +0000

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_3hS_KujbmM

go to 2:12 – what great parting words.

i like “lady friend” or “emotionally attached shopping buddy,” but i guess when i’m being more serious, i say “girlfriend.”

By: Greg McElhatton

Greg McElhatton — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Well, to be fair, the reunion special insinuated (but did not state because they wouldn’t talk about it) that Jen and Zoi had broken up, or at least put their relationship on hold. So I can understand the writer being a little reluctant to start right off with girlfriend/partner as the headline.