Is “Dude” gender neutral?

[Ravenkitty22]

Dude, guys, and bro are for the most part gender neutral, but it depends on context. If you’re saying “that dude over there” then I’d assume you’re talking about a man, but if you say “Dude! What the heck?” that’s definitely neutral.

 

[. Rarity .]

I call people dude all the time so yeah, I take it as gender neutral lol
I also use it for like pointing out a guy, or so fourth. But for the most part id say gender neutral.

 

[Hunter_Gr33n]

Yes and no. I feel like it is gender neutral, but I heard dude used to refer to a man in a song (I know Victoria's Secret.../She was made up by a dude!), so I'm not really sure.

 

[Lavamaize]

I think it’s gender neutral if referring to a group of people, but not if it’s being used to refer to an individual. It’s definitely less gender neutral than using “guys”, but for the most part, I usually stick to the latter.

 

[VanitasFan26]

The word "Dude" was a word that was used a lot back in the 1990s and that name was another name to call the boys and the other word called "Dudette" was used for the girls. Looking back I guess it was a thing back then to call people because it was "cool" but nowdays its not so special.

 

[oath2order]

In my opinion, it absolutely is gender-neutral now.

 

[QueenCobra]

Yeah, it’s kind of like “buddy” in that sense, except I tend to call my male dog “buddy” to his face but use “buddies” when talking about other people regardless of gender, like “they’ve always been buddies etc.”
Calling someone “dude” sounds more gender neutral than “buddy” to me, though.

 

[ConfusedDad]

Yes and no. I feel like it is gender neutral, but I heard dude used to refer to a man in a song (I know Victoria's Secret.../She was made up by a dude!), so I'm not really sure.

I LOVE THAT SONG!!!!! JAX IS THE BESTTTTT

 

[LuchaSloth]

Dude is gender neutral to me. But, I also use "man" the same way.

To me, "dude" is just a chill person, and "man" is short for human.

Like...I always say things like "yeah man" or "hey man"...or "how's it going man?" And I never do it with a specific gender in mind. It's just part of the way I speak. It's meant to be laid back. - I said it once when my friend was introducing a friend of hers who uses they/them, and she was like "oh...they don't use male pronouns". And I was like "oh...I didn't even mean it that way."

Those kind of things have always just been part of my normal way of speaking...and I think most people can kinda feel that in the flow of conversation, but, sometimes it seems to upset people and that's just what it is. Never intentional. And I don't think I could just change the whole way I speak because people misinterpret what I'm saying. Lol. - I mean, I will gladly use "they/them" or "she/her" when referring to someone who uses those pronouns...but I don't see myself going out of my way not to say "hey man" or "hey dude". Of course, if someone really took exception and asked me not to...I would try. Otherwise, people will just have to look past my shortcomings. Hahaha.

Honestly though...I think a lot of it has to do with whether people perceive you to be the kind of person who means something with their choice of words. - I think most people can tell that I am not the kind of person who says things with a lot of weight behind them. So...having a chill demeanor helps people who might otherwise take offense if someone very intentionally called them "dude" or "man". It's obvious that I'm just a casual idiot. - I've definitely said "hey, man" to my mom before. Lol.

 

[Romaki]

Well, by definition it's not. But I don't think anyone should have a problem with it.

 

[outofwrlds]

I always use dude as a gender neutral term. Everything is dude. You're dude, I'm dude, my cat is dude, my dirty dishes are dude, dropping my phone is dude, a pleasant surprise is dude.

Guys is the same way. I use it to refer to a group of people, regardless of the gender of anyone involved. I live in the southern US, home of the phrase y'all, but I can't bring myself to say that word. It's not that it's cringey, but it has such an unpleasant mouth feel that I just feel gross saying it.

Bro (or bruh) is similar to dude, but with some slight differences. It's used much more specifically. I only use it for moments of disappointment, disbelief, or utter shock, and even then, only with a few people.

I've never had anyone complain about me using these terms to misgender them, but part of me worries it might happen. I use these words so often I don't even think about it. But if anyone asked me to not refer to them in such a way, I would happily change what I call them.

 

[marrick]

I referred to a bug that flew in my shower earlier as "dude". Anything that slightly annoys me is "dude".

 

[Darkesque_]

I don't really use "dude" as much as I do "bruh." I use both as gender-neutral, and I mainly use them when I'm annoyed lol

 

[Khaoticnoize187]

Anyone to me gets called dude at one point or another, its been gender neutral since the word even existed.