Girls and boys

Have you noticed how we don't really address ourselves as men and women, but as boys/guys and girls? Today, our lecturer spoke to some students up the back and referred to them as "girls". When a guy joined us for our last KESC, we called him a boy, not a man.

Why is this? Do we not view ourselves as adults? As men and women? (If not, why not?) Has it got something to do with emerging adulthood?

Maybe we don't feel like adults even though we do adult things e.g. be financially independent from our parents, move out of home, pay bills, hold down a job, make life decisions etc etc

I do like to address friends as "ladies and gentlemen", but that's because jelssie hearts chivalry and I like retro/vintage.

I feel there is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy about how we address ourselves. If we call ourselves boys and girls, then we don't feel like adults. If we start addressing ourselves as men and women, perhaps we start feeling like adults (whatever that means).

Note that the title of this blog post is the same as one of Blur's huge hits in the mid-90s :)