August 8, 2012
Women athletes are ladies, not girls
Dear Editor,
I wish to congratulate all the Jamaican athletes in London as well as our sports journalists covering the Olympic Games.
However, I am constantly annoyed by some of the commentators in the electronic media referring to the female Olympians as girls.
The males are not referred to as boys, so why call the ladies girls? Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is referred to as a “fantastic young girl” while Usain Bolt is called “the big man”. I am sure the commentators mean no disrespect but their choice of words is paternalistic and degrading to these fine young women.
Vernon Daley
Kingston
vernon.daley@gmail.com
