So today I found an email directed to a group of female academics and addressed to ”dear Ladies” rather annoying. Am I just being irritable? I really would have preferred “colleagues”.....

I am particularly sensitive to gendered language. Prob from years of being a pastors wife and being addressed in very gendered ways. all things considered, a minor irritant I suppose.

I think, if I can use a Joan Kelly phrase here, I find that “ladies” often accompanies particular “sex-role” distinctions: administrative tasks, child care, women’s only events, etc. it is not only gendered, but often tagged with jobs that are considered below the dignity of men.