I’ve been wondering the answer to this question for awhile now and decided to do a non-scientific poll on Twitter. While waiting for those to answer I decided to look up the definition to these words. I’m not sure I agree with these but here you go.
Broad – there’s about a million definitions for this word and they all refer to wide or spaciousness. In an un-numbered definition under “noun” it says “Informal. North American.” Definition is “a woman”.
Alright, I’m a broad.
Dame – there aren’t as many definitions for dame as there is for broad. A dame is the title given to a woman equivalent to the rank of Knight. It is also an elderly or mature woman. But under that definition the “Informal. North American.” Defines dame as “a woman”.
Alright, I’m a dame.
Gal – the definition of “gal” starts with “Informal. North American.” And it defines gal as a “girl or young woman”.
I’m not a gal anymore.
But we all have our own connotations of those three words. When I heard the term “broad” referred to a woman I think of Frank Sinatra talking about a tough woman who takes no slack. I think of the Fat Broad in the B.C. Comic strip who carried a huge club and beat the daylights out of the snake (I smell a Garden of Eden revenge line here but we’ll go there another day). So, would I consider myself a broad? You bet your club-toting ass I do. There are times that I consider myself a fat broad with a big stick ready to beat the shit out of anyone who gets in my way. Would I do it? Not physically. Maybe not even theoretically. But in my mind I am the baddest fat broad out there. You’ve been warned.
When I hear the word “dame” I again think of Frank Sinatra or Humphrey Bogart. Most of the time they are referring to a lady in a crude kind of way, I think. You may disagree. But there are times that I an see myself as a dame. I’ve never been real lady-like. There have been times in my life that I wanted to be a tomboy. Wait, I know, I think someone like Lauren Bacall would be a dame. No one could doubt her feminism bu she could go toe-to-toe with anyone out there. She could put you in your place in a heartbeat. I like to think I’m that smooth. Maybe I am in some ways, no necessarily in a cool way. But, if I keep that imagine in my mind maybe I can pull off some really cool smoothness.
Alright, you know that we all want to be a gal. I can still hear my grandmother singing “That’s My Gal”. And I equate a gal with Doris Day, Debbie Reynolds or Betty Hutton in “Annie Get Your Gun”. A gal is fun and likable and kind. She says what she things without thinking (which I do all the time). A gal is the girl next door or your best friend’s sister but she is not necessarily the one you take home to meet mama or you marry. Shoot, you don’t even look at her twice unless you need something from her. Yes, I think this is the category I automatically fall into, although the last place I want to be.
One of my favorite girl movies of all time is “How to Marry a Millionaire”. I think in this movie you really get to see a broad, a dame and a gal. If you haven’t seen it I challenge you to run over to TMC and look it up. It is is so entertaining because of the camaraderie and personalities of the characters. And it’s hard to classify them into these categories because as the movie progresses so do their statuses. But this is probably the best example of these type of women I know.
So what about you? Are you a broad, a dame or a gal? Or all three? You’re the only one who can decide and embrace it.