Ponderance of the day: what's the female equivalent of "womanizer" or "ladykiller", that isn't completely derogatory?
My friend wanted me to ask.
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That's easy - Heartbreaker. Like you might warn your buddy to be careful with this or that woman because "she's a real heartbreaker."
Posted by: Brian | June 23, 2006 at 06:12 AM
Ooh, that's much better than "maneater", which no one can even think without getting that stupid Hall and Oates song stuck in their head.
We're looking for something a little more gender specific. So far "boycrazy" is the only term that's surfaced, but it's too... soft.
Posted by: Alexis | June 23, 2006 at 09:01 AM
Hmmm, how about "serial dater" or "recreational relationist"
Posted by: Matthew H | June 23, 2006 at 09:25 AM
Cocktease?
Posted by: Andrea | June 23, 2006 at 11:01 AM
Minx.
Posted by: Matt | June 23, 2006 at 11:16 AM
Emotional assassin, desirable woman, aggressive woman, pollastra (Italian; young woman considered as an object of sexual desire), filly....
Posted by: Matthew H | June 23, 2006 at 11:31 AM
Alexis
Posted by: Sarah | June 23, 2006 at 12:07 PM
Not sure what it's called, but I'm not above being victimized.
Posted by: Geoff | June 23, 2006 at 12:41 PM
Flirt, vamp, coquette, enchantress, siren.
Less positive, but still pretty much fits the bill: Wench, hussy, femme fatale, seductress, temptress.
I like minx, though.
Posted by: Nick | June 23, 2006 at 12:45 PM
I'm waiting to hear what MOM says.
Posted by: taylor | June 23, 2006 at 01:00 PM
slut?
Posted by: mike | June 23, 2006 at 01:45 PM
This is interesting. I've recently been forwarding a thesis that being a trollop is being reevaluated into acceptance. My evidence? "Promiscuous Girl" and "Dont'chya" -- the two it's-okay-to-be-a-strumpet pop singles of the moment. Seriously, girls who stole other girls boyfriends used to be the lowest form of slime, but now they can suddenly shake their ass and whisper "Dont'chya wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"
Where's Maureen Dowd when you need her?
Posted by: Rex | June 23, 2006 at 01:51 PM
I have wanted to take back the word "womanize" for quite some time. The definition is all wrong -- you would think "to womanize" would be a good thing. Why no "manizing?"
Posted by: Simon | June 23, 2006 at 02:09 PM
I like to go with "healthy." I'm 35, I'm going through a severe Mrs. Robinson phase, and I'm so, so okay with that. Screw the patriarchy! Perhaps, literally.
Posted by: Marchelle | June 23, 2006 at 06:38 PM
Femme fatale.
Posted by: toobeaut | June 23, 2006 at 07:22 PM
I like "predatory singletarian." But it's not very gender-specific.
Posted by: Regina | June 23, 2006 at 11:28 PM
I second Rex's comments. Read Ariel Levy's book, Female Chauvanist Pigs. No term is derogatory if women abdicate their own dignity.
Posted by: Adam McFarlane | June 24, 2006 at 09:03 PM
Labels for "types" of people suck. I prefer to not use them. If you want to date and/or sleep with a lot of people, you don't need to be called anything. You are who you are.
And I never thought I'd ever hear anybody ask "where's Maureen Dowd when you need her?"
Posted by: Dave | June 25, 2006 at 04:45 AM
Okay, Taylor, the first word that came to mind was "ballbuster."
Posted by: MOM | June 25, 2006 at 04:52 AM
While labels for types of people have their obvious limitations, they do serve as useful shorthand in many instances. As for "ballbuster," or "ballbreaker," I say no way. Those terms more often describe a demanding or annnoying person, thing or situation, and not a woman that eats, chews and spits out alot of men romantically speaking. Though I suppose a "heartbreaker" or "man-izer" could be a ballbreaker as well, I don't think they're interchangeable. Dig? Oh yeah, I love Maureen Dowd, but dating her would definitely call for an appropriate degree caution, just like all the best women. But the issue I am more concerned with is whether Girl Friday is a heartbreaker.
Posted by: Brian | June 25, 2006 at 08:43 AM
Chorus to "Heartbreaker":
You're a heartbreaker, dreammaker,
Love-taker, don't you mess around with me
You're a heartbreaker, dreammaker,
Love-taker, don't you mess around, no no no
Is that Lux? Nah, she's more nibble than bite.
Anyway, I should clarify my Maureen Dowd remark: I ain't no fan of her most recent tome (Mo, baby, you just send all those supposedly jilted hottie Harvard MBA types my way, 'kay?), but I am fascinated by this balance within feminism. Random historical fact that I've recently been considering: the first wave of feminists (Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Elizabeth Cady Standon, etc.) wore lipstick during the suffrage movement as a sign of emancipation from the rule of men. Of course, the second-wavers wanted to destroy all that frilly stuff, only to be re-appropriated by the third-wavers.
What were we talking about? Oh yeah, I say "trollop." I sorta love that word.
Posted by: Rex | June 25, 2006 at 05:21 PM
I agree, Mo' Dowd's latest book was pretty thin judging from the excerpt I read and the poor reviews, but I think she's smart, cool and sexy, and, yeah, I would like to meet her friends, too. As for the feminists, wasn't the whole movement supposed to be about choice and freedom from orthodoxy, however imposed, be it in dress, life-choices, lifestyles, etc.?
I do like "trollop," especially when it appears in a Gershwin or Cole Porter tune, but I also like "vixen."
Posted by: Brian | June 25, 2006 at 10:51 PM
"Womanizer" and "ladykiller" aren't male sluts or dirty bad boys. The terms, to me, just mean men who are dead sexy and know it and work it. Therefore, I really think "minx" is the most appropriate female equivalent here. "Trollop" means prostitute; it doesn't quite fit.
Minx all the way.
Posted by: Molly | June 27, 2006 at 05:25 AM
I dated a girl just like this and she doesnt evwn realize it. Its really quite sad. I was warned about dating her but i ignored it due to the fact that she said she would change. She is too good. She will never be happy. She is a player and always will be i guess
Posted by: Brandon waldo | January 17, 2011 at 07:02 PM
I'm a player and I really enjoy it. I like minx. Its fun to be able to do this to men. I do it because I lost someone I loved very dearly. I also do it because men did it to me in the past. Also because my mom and dad dont like me... and my sister is perfect. I still long for my Bruce Willis to come along one day... Just to get into the phycology of it.
Posted by: ;) | October 18, 2011 at 06:44 AM