Thanks for your thoughts. The real issue is when there is a power differential. If a woman wants to have a "girls night out" that's a lot less problematic than her being referred to as a girl in her professional capacity. Although, someone wrote that their trainer had said to her, "good girl" when she did something well and her husband had corrected him. But no-one says, "good boy" unless they are speaking to a dog.

It's not the girl is never ever acceptable under any circumstances. It's that I'd like people to be mindful when they are using it and decide if that's really the right word in that situation. It still gets used rather unconsciously and that is where the problem lies. When a British journalist called out "morning girls" to several female cabinet members leaving Downing Street, he was demeaning them, even if that wasn't his conscious intention. Most bias is unconscious, which is why we need to talk about it and make it more conscious.