Supergirl vs Superwoman

Agreed. On the one hand- people have the right to feel what they feel. That doesn’t always justify their actions or mean that anything other than understanding and listening be done in response, being offended doesn’t automatically mean something needs to be changed- just that you’ve made younperspectove clear and helped others understand your feelings, and they may or may not respond. While I feel “girl vs woman” is important in context- if a female is below a certain age she is usually called “girl” as opposed to “young woman” or “very young woman,” and “super very young woman” or “super pre teenage female” just don’t click. If you have a 25yo playing a 13yo I think it’s approproate to call the character “girl.” Around mid teens it starts seeming more respectful to use the term “young woman,” but as addressed- it doesn’t flow well- and “teen” as a prefix is usually not well received either and a sign of an out of touch attempt at youth culture.

In Batman beyond- the teenage Terry was still called “Batman” and not “bat boy,” in teen titans they didn’t really run with robins classic tag of “boy wonder,” but as said above- the teenage “Beast boy” was called “boy”- and is portrayed as much younger than Terry from Batman beyond who was almost out of high school. So from most evidence I can find in DC film/tv cannon- they seem to follow my logic that “boy” and “girl” are tags which primarily are related to age. The fact that there are real life trade mark and branding issues is important though- although they own the rights to Super Woman- there is an internet celebrity who uses that name and comes up above the character in search results so perhaps such things did factor in. Or perhaps they wanted to capture a youth demographic- teens tend to like to imagine themselves as “glamorous 20 somethings..” mixed feelings. I understand where she is coming from and would rather an adult female hero be called “woman-“ but I need to...

... process the issue and have more information to determine if I have a strong opinion on the matter.

I am not here to invalidate your opinion. The way you personally consider words is not debatable. It is you personally feeling. Linguistically however the analog of “Guy” is “Gal.” As you say, grown women and grown men may well refer to themselves as “boys” or “girls” playfully. Drinks with the girls, hanging with the boys- but it is contextual isn’t it? I’m very familiar with the “Man cave” but have yet to hear someone say “yup. Just built my boy cave. Going to get the boys down here and have a few beers...” So we can see where we use the word doesn’t follow a singular rule per se. If we could assume 1/1 equivalency then “boy cave” or “boy zone” would be more commonly used. But speaking of equivalencies- by the same token- “boy” and “girl” can both be used as terms of endearment as well as pejoratives. Ignoring the racial side of the terms- they are used often to impugn a person by implying immaturity, inexperience, nativity, comparatively where the speaker is “a (wo)man” and the...

... subject is less than- a mere “boy/girl.” It genrslly isn’t flattering to be told as an adult you have the body of a “boy/girl” in context where “man/woman” could be used. “Boyish/girlish charm” can be an insult or a compliment. “Boyish good looks” can be the same- implying a certain immaturity or lack of sophistication but also non weathered or worn look. So I’m not sure we can judge it on those grounds. If “supergirl” was called that as a nickname by friends- that is one thing. However complete strangers are more likely to call another adult female a woman than a girl if they aren’t being condescending or insulting. Super Girl could obviously call herself a girl without that being an insult- but as a fictional character it’s complocated because her “will” is the will of writers, who in the real world were men working in a primarily male field- so regardless of canon it’s still men calling her girl and not another woman or herself calling her girl.

Now- some women are flattered when a man calls them girl- or uses phrases as such: “hey girl...” or “you know you’re my girl...” but that also often depends on familiarity. Some women wouldn’t want to be called girl at all- but many women may be more accepting of an existing boyfriend or relation calling them “girl” than if a random man walked up and called them “girl.” Likewise women sometimes use “boy” in a similar fashion, but at least my experience shows most men don’t have a problem with that- but being honest, if a woman they find attractive is speaking to them on her own initiative most single straight men likely aren’t going to not pick pronouns and will just “roll with it” so long as things are going positively. Spider man would likely get upset at bein called spider boy- because of the implied age- Batman (even without the existence of bat boy) would likely not be taken as seriously or have quite the same gravitas as “Bat Boy.”

So I think you bring up some interesting points for the discussion of the matter- but I also think that on their own they aren’t enough to cover the full scope of how context can greatly impact where it is or is not considered acceptable or insulting to use the terms “boy” and “girl” when referring to a grown adult.