Ghanaian nurse says it’s irritating & disrespectful for men to address women as ‘Dear’ in a business setting

One of the commonest way of politely addressing women in Ghana is using the word ‘Dear’. In our Whatsapp chats, Facebook chats, etc. most guys refer to their female friends or even spouses as dear.

Well, even though many would see this as polite, a Ghanaian nurse, Gesare Chife, is of the view that we can use “dear” wherever we want. But extending it to a business setting is condescending, disrespectful and more than mildly irritating.

In a tweet, she wrote: “Men – please stop addressing women as dear in a business setting. It’s condescending, disrespectful and more than mildly irritating”

Other women agreed with her. Abena Yalley wrote that it’s a whole lot irritating to be addressed as such especially if she mentioned her name to the man: “Mildly irritating? A whole lot irritating. I feel a bucket load of annoyance if someone addresses me by dear especially when I have mentioned my name”

Aderonke also added: “I hate hearing it, it doesn’t matter the gender of the person saying it, as long as I do not have an affectionate or a personal relationship with you…please do not throw “dear” at me like you are talking to a simpleton.”

A man @praisex64 who didn’t see a problem with refering to a woman as dear wrote: “These days women see every thing as offence. to be on a safer side it is better to address them like a man since that is what they want. I dont see anything bad with dear what about the dear we use in formal letters Dear Sir /madam. is it also wrong.”