I believe that the phrasing ‘hey guys’ should not be discontinued unless there are highly specific circumstances for it. I agree with the author of the article that ‘guys’ has become a gender-neutral greeting that does not commonly hold any specific connotation regarding male-dominant culture (Pinsker). While some concerns may be valid such as a transgender woman feeling uncomfortable, these are rare circumstances and should be voiced so others can understand and respect them. The point being, ‘hey guys’ would typically be used in less formal settings or ones where a person is familiar with others, so any potential issues will probably be known. Furthermore, it is inherently a friendly greeting, one which is known to refer to a general group of people. Currently, there are no good alternatives, with y’all having associations with either Southern culture or a comic and satiric manner, generally considered to be improper English. Meanwhile, the casual, inclusive nature of ‘hey guys’ is well-established in dialect and culture.
Similar to many other phrases and cultural terms, it seems that ‘hey guys’ has fallen into the trap of political correctness. However, unlike many other words that are being reexamined, there is no negative history or hidden meaning to ‘guys.’ While yes, the word in its literal meaning indicates a group of males, ‘hey guys’ is not a phrase that feeds the male-dominated, toxic culture. It is a basic greeting that has been used with all genders (with women notably even using the phrase even among themselves without any males present) and had become a well-established colloquialism among young people in the last decades. Culture changes rapidly, and potentially other alternatives may catch up in slang that sounds more gender-neutral, but at this point ‘hey guys’ should remain in use and people should not attempt to subvert it as something offensive when the majority of individuals do not consider it to be.
Work Cited
Pinsker, Joe. “The Problem With ‘Hey Guys’.”The Atlantic, 2019. Web.