male characters have it hard

[Alaw]

It's actually very easy. Baby, dear, sweety and other endearment terms are used between people who already know each other well and long. Like in family, you know. And when you call an unknown woman like that, it does not sound endearing at all. It sounds vulgar, and somewhat patronising, like you look down at her, seeing her not as a human, but as an object.

While some women can be ok with this, I am not. And that 'babe' word is not just a variation of 'baby', it's a sexist label, used in porn and in objectifying ads, when a woman is depersonalized and viewed as a body only.