In olden days women were defined by three ages--Maiden, Mother, and Crone.
The Maiden was the innocent virginal woman before marriage, but after childhood.
I am looking for a word to describe a woman before marriage, but after childhood, but who is not virginal. She is sexually active, seeking her own pleasure, but not as controlled by her desires to be called slut or hussy.
Any ideas?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Siren and Minx come to mind, but I'm not sure that nails your description.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
You want a non-judgmental word? Hm. The closest I can do is "vixen," I think, and even then the connotation is bad.
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
There's vamp and hedonist. But vamp is fairly judgmental and hedonist is not specific to younger women who aren't married.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
Hedonist describes someone who is obsessed with pleasure. As I understand it, Darth merely wants a word that describes a normal single adult woman with a normal, healthy sex drive, who enjoys sex as one part of her life.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Independent? Liberated? Free-spirit? hmmm
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Adult? Single?
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Dobbie: Hedonist describes someone who is obsessed with pleasure. As I understand it, Darth merely wants a word that describes a normal single adult woman with a normal, healthy sex drive, who enjoys sex as one part of her life.
Ah, that would make more sense. I read 'seeking her own pleasure' as being obsessed with pleasure, but neglected to catch the bit about her not being controlled by her desires.
My bad! Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
Lass? Damsel? Strumpet?
Nothing from 21st century terminology really covers a young sexually active woman in a way that doesn't have negative connotations.
Really says something about our culture, as there are a number of such terms for young sexually active men that aren't at all negative.
You might be able to find some slang that I'm not aware of, but I doubt it'd be in a regular dictionary. Maybe the urban dictionary.
Posted by Luet13 (Member # 9274) on :
Woman? I'm not trying to be sarcastic, but does there really need to be a 'term'? What's the term for a man after childhood, pre marriage, not virginal, who is sexually active but not controlled by his urges that is not called a gigolo or an a**hole?
Posted by Darth_Mauve (Member # 4709) on :
Does there need to be a term? Good question. I say yes as there exists a term for both the slut and the maiden.
In particular I am creating a fantasy story where wizards can gain a type of immortality by combining their essence with that of the spirit of something. Basically they become the Avatar of something. There is the Wizard of Men and the Witch (Wizardess?) of Magic and the Wizard of Justified War. One of the main characters is the daughter of the two most powerful wizards. She becomes the wizardess/witch/whatever of strong independent youthful femaleness.
Perhaps I should make up a word.
Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :
quote:What's the term for a man after childhood, pre marriage, not virginal, who is sexually active but not controlled by his urges that is not called a gigolo or an a**hole?
Bachelor. The fact that there is no female equivalent shouldn't surprise anyone. This is merely the age-old double standard at work.
The closest female equivalent I can think of is debutante, but "in society" that would have assumed chastity as well.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
What about using the term "Lady"?
I can thing of several, more mystical, ideas where the "Lady of <Whatever>" is assumed to be a young, unmarried adult woman who is not necessarily chaste.
Posted by Godric 2.0 (Member # 11443) on :
quote: As a title of nobility the uses of "lady" are parallel to those of "lord". It is thus a less formal alternative to the full title giving the specific rank, of marchioness, countess, viscountess or baroness, whether as the title of the husband's rank by right or courtesy, or as the lady's title in her own right. A peeress's title is used with the definite article: Lord Morris's wife is "The Lady Morris". A widow's title derived from her husband becomes the dowager, e.g. The Dowager Lady Smith. The title "Lady" is also used for a woman who is the wife of a Scottish feudal baron, the title "Lady" preceding the name of the barony.
In the case of younger sons of a duke or marquess, who by courtesy have "Lord" prefixed to their given and family name, the wife is known by the husband's given and family name with "The Lady" prefixed, e.g. The Lady John Smith. The daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls are by courtesy ladies; here that title is prefixed to the given and family name of the lady, e.g. The Lady Jane Smith, and this is preserved if the lady marries a commoner, e.g. Mr John and The Lady Jane Smith. The predicate 'The' should be used prior to "Lady" or "Lord" in all cases, except after a divorce for women who do not hold the courtesy title of "Lady" in their own right, e.g. or Jane, Lady Smith (the ex-wife of Lord John Smith).
"Lady" is also the customary title of the wife of a baronet or knight, but in this case with neither the article nor Christian name: "Lady" with the surname of the husband only, Sir John and Lady Smith. When a woman divorces a knight and he marries again, the new wife will be Lady Smith while the ex-wife becomes Jane, Lady Smith.
Also, under the "Dame" entry:
quote: Because there is no female equivalent of a Knight Bachelor, women deserving an honour of this rank are appointed Lady Companions of the Order of the Garter or Dames of the Order of the British Empire instead.
Formerly, the wife of a knight was called a Dame, but this usage was replaced by "Lady" during the 17th century.
From "Mistress" (obviously, this has a present-day negative implication, but if you're writing a period fantasy piece, I see no reason it wouldn't work):
quote: Mistress is an old form of address for a woman. An example is Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. The title did not distinguish between married and unmarried women.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
Bachelorette? (Too obviously made up in the 20th century in a vain attempt to achieve equality?)
(I think Lady and Dame are the best choices so far)
Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Spinster was the old-fashioned term for a female bachelor but it does sort of give off a dried up vibe.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
I don't know if we have a word for it that doesn't have some type of negative connotation; it seems like virtually all female terms, and most male terms, that reference sexuality develop negative connotations.
The only thing I can think of is that we do have what you're describing in the title 'Ms.' (short for 'Mistress'). If the novel you're writing is looking for a more old-fashioned title, you could probably refer to the character as the Mistress of Femininity (or somesuch).
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
How does OSC refer to Peggy Larner's mentor? Doesn't she have a title like this?
Posted by BandoCommando (Member # 7746) on :
quote:Originally posted by PSI Teleport: How does OSC refer to Peggy Larner's mentor? Doesn't she have a title like this?
I thought it was Mistress. "Mistress Modesty" IIRC.
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