The Sochi Olympics reporters have had questionable use of feminine descriptors. I’m not even talking about the difference in “Women’s” Hockey versus “Ladies’” Figure Skating or the use of “girls” when commentators wouldn’t dream of calling male athletes “boys.” Those are semantic conversations unto themselves, and this isn’t the place for them. I’m talking about the use of “women” as an adjective. (Pssst… hey guys, put down your vodka samples. “Women” is a noun!)
When you’re looking for the adjective form of “women,” “female” is usually your best bet; however, time and time again, writers are using the wrong part of speech.
It’s everywhere:
“Such focus on beauty undercuts women athletes’ achievements across other sports too,” (Time Sports, Feb. 10, 2014)
“Smaller Hill, Shorter Sled: How the Olympics Infantilize Women Athletes” (Slate Magazine, Feb. 12, 2014)
“As the following images illustrate, women athletes tend to share their [yoga] practice more on social media” (Shape Magazine, Feb. 20, 2014)
“Perhaps the most telling finding in this study was the large discrepancy in clock time devoted men and women athletes” (A 2002 study for the International Review for the Sociology of Sport quoted in The Atlantic, Feb. 21, 2014)
And to be clear, it should be “male and female athletes” in that last example. Noun-adjective confusion apparently bears no gender biases. At least the official Olympics website doesn’t make this mistake (or at least they haven’t since 2012).
When you look up the word “woman” in the dictionary, noun is the only option for part of speech. But what do rules matter? Well, in my humble opinion, they still matter a lot.