I have been getting angry at those gestures for years, but it was not very clear to me why. After all, if a guy opens the door for you, it is because he respects you, is it not? And why should I not want to be approached as a female (using words like she, her)? After all, I am not ashamed of being one. On the other hand, when I get a letter, written for males only, I also get upset: do they think that only men matter? Hey, I am female, approach me as well! Write roadsigns in plural, not in male! So, all in all, it is rather confusing.

Douglas R. Hofstadter presented me with a very good reason to my mixup: the problem lies within the language itself, which has different words according to gender.