Having English as second language I am still not sure when you use the one and the other. So I use female more as describing normative stuff in culture, as stuff is assigned as female.
“Female” is generally a more formal, clinical term. You’d generally see it used in paperwork or medical/scientific documents moreso than day-to-day speech.
For instance, you’d see sex indicated using “male” or “female” on a hospital intake or on a passport specifically. “Girl” and “Woman” would be the go-to for more conversational contexts.
Basically, if "female" is used as an adjective, it's fine. If it's used as a noun, that's a red flag. A good way to check is to try putting an "s" on the end of the word and see if it makes sense. "I wish people realized that more females drone pilots isn't actually an advance for women's liberation" that doesn't make sense, it's used as an adjective, modifying the noun "pilots." Vs. "Oh hell yes, there are some females at this bar." Oh no, using the plural s makes sense in this context, you're using it as a noun and now even if nobody else can see it, I can see an invisible fedora sitting on your head. If you can pluralize it, it's a noun.
Having English as second language I am still not sure when you use the one and the other. So I use female more as describing normative stuff in culture, as stuff is assigned as female.
“Female” is generally a more formal, clinical term. You’d generally see it used in paperwork or medical/scientific documents moreso than day-to-day speech.
For instance, you’d see sex indicated using “male” or “female” on a hospital intake or on a passport specifically. “Girl” and “Woman” would be the go-to for more conversational contexts.
Basically, if "female" is used as an adjective, it's fine. If it's used as a noun, that's a red flag. A good way to check is to try putting an "s" on the end of the word and see if it makes sense. "I wish people realized that more females drone pilots isn't actually an advance for women's liberation" that doesn't make sense, it's used as an adjective, modifying the noun "pilots." Vs. "Oh hell yes, there are some females at this bar." Oh no, using the plural s makes sense in this context, you're using it as a noun and now even if nobody else can see it, I can see an invisible fedora sitting on your head. If you can pluralize it, it's a noun.