Well, after I read the wiki on Michelle Obama our soon to be First Lady I got to thinking in depth. Will black women continue to call one another girl once Obama is First Lady? Does Michelle Obama call her closet friends girl? Does she even use the word to refer to girlfriends? We know Oprah Winfrey uses Girl as a term of endearment among her closest girlfriends. Winfrey’s appeal to be real is one of the reasons she rose to become the Queen of media.
I examined my own close friends and networks (I have some VERY successful close friends in my circle). Considering this we only refer to one another as girl in a social setting and never ever in a professional setting. A cultural aspect and unspoken rule; we just know. However, the rise of the black buying power is prompting brands to target black people in their language. I am still not sure how I feel about this as most of the brands are getting it very wrong when attempting to do so.
My thought for today being from the south, knowing the stigma carried with the word girl. You see black women were referred to as girl, as like the black man they were not considered a woman. Yet still black men refer to close friends as “my boy” and black women use “my girl” as a term of endearment.