if you call everyone dude and a transfem person gets mad about it, don't get defensive. just say like "sorry, i won't do it again" and don't argue "actually it's gender neutral" or "i call everyone dude". even if you do, i guarantee she's heard that argument from someone who very much does not call people they see as women dude. i certainly have
same goes double for the word guy.
to be clear this is not saying no one can ever call a trans woman dude under any circumstances, it's just that if someone doesn't like being called something then you shouldn't call them that. and while some people use dude or guy gender neutrally, in my experience they're both gendered terms more often than not
Yeah, I get that. I just immediately commented what the title made me think of instead of actually reading the post because I’m an American.
you know, fair enough. i do that too sometimes