>Like Southern Men and Women use it all the time without all
>this baggage.

just because they think it doesn't carry any baggage doesn't mean that it's ok. as a fellow southerner, i hear it a lot and i hate it more and more

>
>Reminds me of this girl I know who got into trouble at her
>progressive workplace because she used the term "guys" in a
>meeting to refer to everyone. She was a Mexican girl from not
>a great school or area and she was being lectured by her more
>privileged co-workers for using language that everyone from
>where she is from, used.
>
>
>I wonder who is suppose to change for who.

everyone is supposed to change for everyone else. i believe the goal is to work towards not referring to people by their gender or sex since it is often viewed as their defining characteristic, especially in traditionally conservative and patriarchal areas like the mid- and deep south. i had to work a bit to stop saying "guys" and shift to the all-inclusive "y'all." i'm working on "they" as a replacement for "he/she" but that one is really hard to shed

btw your post is the definition of conservatism. you get older, more out of touch, and falsely assume that ideologies of your youth should be how people should approach those same concepts concurrently. it's been fascinating to watch a lot of you gen x males on this board buck against progressive efforts for no other reason than it not being the way it was when you were younger