I feel like this kind of comment is exactly the problem, isn’t it?
From what you’ve said - in your mind, addressing a group of people as “lads” makes no comment on their gender. Some people will definitely agree with that and not be bothered at all. But I don’t find it even slightly hard to imagine that if I were a woman in a group being addressed as “lads” that I might kinda bristle at at, as I know some people do.
It’s just weird to me that anybody’s first reaction to this sort of thing would be to double-down on “actually guys is gender-neutral” instead of just thinking “good point” and making a mental note for the future.
From what you’ve said - in your mind, addressing a group of people as “lads” makes no comment on their gender. Some people will definitely agree with that and not be bothered at all. But I don’t find it even slightly hard to imagine that if I were a woman in a group being addressed as “lads” that I might kinda bristle at at, as I know some people do.
It’s just weird to me that anybody’s first reaction to this sort of thing would be to double-down on “actually guys is gender-neutral” instead of just thinking “good point” and making a mental note for the future.