It’s commonly regarded as sexist in most contexts, at least that is / was my understanding. The thesis reiterates the harm outside of a workplace setting:

This suggests that the infantilizing label girl has the most impact and is most harmful in contexts where qualities of maturity, leadership, and adultness are most critical, such as in workplace and leadership settings. I do not mean to suggest, however, that being called girl in a non-workplace setting is unproblematic, as it is possible that such labels could have a cumulative effect over time in any setting: the connotations of naivety and innocence may take their toll on women in the long-term.

While referring to a man as a boy likewise has problematic features (esp. as a racist slur, like when a white man referring to a black man as “boy”), I think it is considered more harmful to refer to a woman as a “girl” due to the context of women being marginalized historically and presently by undermining their sense of personal autonomy and authority (e.g. the way Hegel described women as akin plants, or the way Aristotle argued women are natural mutilations and aberrations of the proper male form who do not exercise their will and require men to manage their affairs for their own good, the way parents must for their children).

This is all contextual though - women peers referring to one another as “girl” can be affirming or positive without the infantilizing meaning or impact, so part of the problem is the context of a man referring to a woman as “girl”.

And of course you probably didn’t intend this, or even been aware it has any sexist connotation, in fact I suspect this kind of behavior is rather common (lots of men can be clueless about the subtle differences in language and the impact it can have on women).

This is somewhat touched on in the article as well:

Indeed, this study may be the first to show that a commonly used label for a group of people (and one that is even preferred by members of that group in many contexts) can have a detrimental effect on members of that group. Previous research (e.g., Boeckmann & Liew, 2002; Carnaghi & Maass, 2007; Evans & Chapman, 2014; Leets, 2002; Leets & Giles, 1997) has documented the effects of hate speech and overtly derogatory labels on minority group members. The term girl reveals another insidious type of language effect that passes by relatively unnoticed and is deemed “normal,” yet has deleterious consequences.

By the way, I want to be clear that the take-away here isn’t that you’re sexist or bad, the take-away should just be that many women feel infantilized by being referred to as a girl and that it’s good to be aware of and sensitive to that.

Besides the harm it can cause, it’s also probably just pragmatically useful for you to know that other women seeing you refer to another woman as “girl” might have a chilling effect or even spark anger, since it is seen as sexist. I think the context matters here, but a lot of women are victims of physical and sexual assault on top of all the other ways they can be marginalized in this society, and the resulting trauma can cause outsized / disproportionate responses or outbursts. It’s just worth noting that if someone seems to be overreacting to something you don’t see as that big of a deal, there might be deeper issues there. I don’t want you to feel like you have to walk on egg-shells, but it’s also good to be aware and empathetic if you are willing to.

That just wasn’t the part of the title I was focused on / expecting to be fixed.

Sorry, I was so focused on how you called a woman a “girl” I missed that you also misspelled reishi.

(narrator): but it was not fixed

What would be the 1/10 probable alternative in your mind? Maybe a fake rubber mushroom someone glued on the tree as a prank? 😂

Yes, they are definitely chicken of the woods. I’m not sure on species, but it’s a good beginner mushroom because there aren’t any dangerous look-a-likes or even many (any?) shelf mushrooms that are dangerous to eat.

OK, but really - what was the last book that made you cry?

Copying my comment on your other post, wanted to share here as well:

I ran through the field key in Bessettes’ & Roody’s Boletes of Eastern North America.

I think one possibility is: Caloboletus firmus.

The stalk is pretty beat up, but it seems like it might be a net stalk, so I went with Key B-3:

Net Stalks: with pores some shade of orange, tan, buff, red, maroon, brown to dark brown, or nearly black, p. 34

Then I chose:

1b. Pores not radially arranged and some shade of orange, red, maroon, or brown to nearly black → 2

2b. Pores red to orange → 5

5a. Cap whitish to grayish, grayish brown, or grayish olive; pores pinkish to red or red orange, sometimes yellowish at the margin when young, staining blue when bruised → Caloboletus firmus (p. 189)

Yeah, though supposedly SEO could actually penalize articles for something like this, the SEO requirements keep changing but I bet there is a balancing act between keeping SEO happy and keeping up your ad impressions.

Articles are often made intentionally too long (ever notice recipes that force you to scroll through loads of irrelevant copy about the ingredients before you can get to the ingredients list and directions at the bottom?), this probably has to do with advertisements which will fire off when you scroll far enough down the page, it counts like an additional page view and the site makes more money.

Of course - can’t wait to hear how your gardening experiences go, please share updates and photos!

I think cucumbers (and relatives like watermelon, squash, etc.) don’t transplant well due to their sensitive roots, so if you grow them in a large plastic pot, don’t expect to move them around or plant them in the ground later.

It sounds like you have a good approach to the gardening - most beginners take on too much and get overwhelmed. Starting small is really smart. Being clear and realistic about your goals is also a great sign.

Growing in the hotter south I always had trouble with cucumbers coming out too bitter, maybe due to the heat. I haven’t grown them much since, but I have heard from others that cucumbers can be really productive if you give them the right place (needs enough sun, water, and space).

Agreeing with everyone else, Potentilla indica seems likely. The fruits taste watery, not desirable but not toxic.

exactly; there will always be piracy as long as piracy is needed, a post-piracy world is a utopia, even in the worst dystopia people find ways to “pirate”

nice, thank you!

Nice, any thoughts about fertilizing fava beans in particular? I have heard that nitrogen fertilizers cause poor yields for legumes. Maybe it’s poor yields either way at this point, so I might as well try 😅

Harvested some asparagus and solomon’s seal shoots the other day, they were delicious. Dogwoods are leafing out and some early iris blooms are opening. Most daffodils have lost their petals. My fava beans don’t look so great, I think I planted them in too much woodchip mulch. They have flowers, though. I was debating fertilizing them with urine - any thoughts? I generally avoid fertilizing legumes, but the thick woodchip mulch might be an exception?

thanks for this info, I was wondering why PIA isn’t recommended anymore