......and in turn in response to your question; yes I was happy with
comments provided particularly so as question elicited 12 comments to
date all from different angles with people who understood and/or
agreed with what I was getting at  to some who did not see the point
of it at all, and then some sidesteps on all of that that were
entertaining also.


 I still maintain and I think rightly so that up until the  very early
eighties at least, your average full-bodied,mature intelligent woman
was belittled somewhat in the film industry generally by being
constantly referred to as "the girl, "a girl" right up to what appears
her early thirties in some cases.
 I have listed an example in my first question on the subject but
co-incidently I saw a movie only last night which made it very clear
the womans age and her marital status but ensured that at all points
in the movie she was simply, "the girl". Specifically the woman was
previously married, ( so we assume not a virgin which someone
suggested justified the term girl), she then told us that she was
divorced and currently 24 years of age. Add to that she was
asthetically a woman in every sense of the word and carried a certain
maturity about her as well, referring to her as "the girl" in this
movie just sounded and looked ridiculous. Take a look at all the James
Bond movies with the beautiful ladies depicted on those films.  Pick
out one which you would argue did not warrant being seen as a woman
but rather as "a girl". Of course in James Bond's world not a single
one from 1962 through to the the next 20 years or so was enough woman
for him to be called one as they were always just "the girl"

 If you can add another insight or in fact answer the related previous
question on subject from me then please do so;well anyone I suppose
can answer.

 John From Melbourne

Greetings John:

I tried a few more searches and, among the results, found a few more
interesting links.  Also, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary
(as you'll see below), "girl" is defined as "young unmarried woman." 
It may be that this is why, even though the female was previously
married, she was referred to as a girl.


A message board entry titled "Would you please stop calling us girls?"
http://bang.dhs.org/if/raif/2001/msg03661.html 
The original thread begins at
http://bang.dhs.org/if/raif/2001/msg03611.html and you may enjoy
reading the progression.

One of the entries begins "I never call grownups "girl", but I do
believe that there is a hole in the English language where "girl"
should go. For me, when referring to adult females, "girl" is not the
equivalent of "boy", but is the equivalent of "guy". It's just a less
formal word than "woman"."


Some commentary on language and gender
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:DuCouWyGcvMJ:www.soc.iastate.edu/Soc327b/language(mar26).pdf+girl+woman+lady+names+for+females&hl=en&ie=UTF-8


Language change and gender - lecture notes
http://twist.lib.uiowa.edu/genderlect/lectures/Lecture8.html


THESAURUS RESULTS:

female
http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=female

girl ["virgin" is included among these results]
http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=girl

woman
http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=woman

lady
http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=lady


DICTIONARY RESULTS - Merriam Webster at http://www.m-w.com/

girl:
Etymology: Middle English gurle, girle young person of either sex
Date: 14th century
a : a female child 
b : a young unmarried woman 
c sometimes offensive : a single or married woman of any age
[As you see, the dictionary supports the use of "girl" as a "young
unmarried woman" - perhaps this is why girl was used in the film
instance you referenced]

woman
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wIfman, from wIf woman,
wife + man human being, man
Date: before 12th century
a : an adult female person 
b : a woman belonging to a particular category (as by birth,
residence, membership, or occupation) -- usually used in combination
<councilwoman>

maiden
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English mægden, m[AE]den,
diminutive of mægeth; akin to Old High German magad maiden, Old Irish
mug serf
Date: before 12th century
1 : an unmarried girl or woman

matron
Etymology: Middle English matrone, from Middle French, from Latin
matrona, from matr-, mater
Date: 14th century
a : a married woman usually marked by dignified maturity or social
distinction
b : a woman who supervises women or children (as in a school or police
station)
c : the chief officer in a women's organization


"girl - c.1290, gyrle "child" (of either sex), of unknown origin;
current scholarship leans toward an unrecorded O.E. *gyrele, from
P.Gmc. *gurwilon-, dim. of *gurwjoz (represented by Low Ger. gære
"boy, girl"), from PIE *ghwrgh-, also found in Gk. parthenos "virgin."
But this is highly conjectural. Another candidate is O.E. gierela
"garment." Like boy, lass, lad it is of obscure origin. "Probably most
of them arose as jocular transferred uses of words that had originally
different meaning." [O.E.D.] Specific meaning of "female child" is
14c. Applied to "any young unmarried woman" since 1530. Meaning
"sweetheart" is from 1648; girl-friend is attested from 1892. Girlie
(adj.) "meant to titilate men" is from 1942. Girl next door as a type
of unflashy attractiveness is first recorded 1961."
From http://www.etymonline.com/g2etym.htm

"woman - O.E. wimman (pl. wimmen), alteration of wifman (pl. wifmen),
a compound of wif "woman" (see wife) + man "human being." The
pronunciation of the singular altered by the rounding influence of
-w-; the plural retains the original vowel. The formation is peculiar
to English. Replaced older O.E. wif, quean as the word for "female
human being." Women's liberation is attested from 1966; women's rights
is from 1840, with an isolated example in 1632."
From http://www.etymonline.com/w3etym.htm

"maiden - O.E. mæden, mægden, dim. of mægð, mægeð "maid," from P.Gmc.
*magthis "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female," fem.
variant of *maguz "boy," root of O.E. magu "child, son." Figurative
sense of "new fresh, first" (cf. maiden voyage) first recorded 1555.
For maidenhead see godhead."
From http://www.etymonline.com/m1etym.htm

"matron - late 14c., from O.Fr. matrone, from L. matrona "married
woman," from mater (gen. matris) "mother." Sense of "female manager of
school, hospital, etc." first recorded 1557."
http://www.etymonline.com/m2etym.htm


If I may assist you further before ytou rate my answer, please let me
know and I'll be happy to respond.

Best regards (and thanks for asking such an interesting question!),
journalist-ga 


SEARCH STRATEGY:

calling a girl a woman
girl woman lady names for females
female gender references
"age appropriate" references to woman
female gender hierarchy language
thesaurus
dictionary
etymology dictionary

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Request for Answer Clarification by johnfrommelbourne-ga on 04 Aug 2003 07:31 PDT

Dear Journo,
            I cant rate you yet as you have put lots into it and I
would like to go through the links etc when I have a little more time.
Not sure what time it is in your part of the world but in mine it is
12.30am Tuesday 5/8 and i ned to go to bed to be sure oif getting to
appointmnet in the morning; the sunlit morning that is as opposed to
the morning I am writing in now.

  John  P.S Incidently system wont allow me to make normal comment so
using the  "request for clarification process" as only means to speak
to you

---

Clarification of Answer by journalist-ga on 04 Aug 2003 09:45 PDT

No problem, John.  Get some rest and review the answer when you are
refreshed.  Should you want additional research, I'll be happy to
provide it.  I've continued looking and I may still happen upon the
definitive source.  :)

Best regards,
journalist-ga

Thanks Journo for your work on question. Read nearly all of what you
provided plus links and assess that given the small fee, you provided
five stars worth of knowledge and entertainment both.

 John From Melbourne