@Thom Halwerda:

Contrary to what men seem to think, calling a girl babe or chick is, in many circumstances, definitely NOT sexist. The context in which Violet said it – as a woman, no less – was not sexist. At all. Not under any circumstance can it be considered sexist. I don’t see it. No one I explained this story to – and most of my friends are women – thought it was sexist.

What is sexist, however, is men jumping to someone’s defence, without asking, just because that someone is a woman. Assuming that a woman needs protecting just because she’s a woman is insipidly sexist, covered in a thick coating of faux-pas chivalry.

Respectfully, try reading my post again. I know it's long, but try to suffer through it.

As much as I hate contradicting you and your friends — especially since most of them are women and all — you're wrong when you say that not under any circumstances can it be considered sexist. Because I considered it sexist right there, in that post at the top of this page. It's not about the use of the word "babe," it's about assuming a woman has nothing to contribute other than her looks, and dismissing a woman as being not worth talking to.

Nor is this about jumping to Ms. Rutkai's, or any other woman's defense. She's gone on record as saying she doesn't particularly care. Sexism doesn't just affect the woman at the center of it, it affects anyone with a brain and common decency. If anything, I'm jumping to my own defense, because I don't appreciate seeing men (I am one) being so casually and baselessly accused of misogyny.

Also I don't know what "faux-pas chivalry" is. I imagine it's holding the door open for a woman while getting her name wrong?

King, Gruber, et. al. would have never responded to Violet’s story had it been about a man. That is what makes King’s and Gruber’s response sexist.

That's pretty much bullshit. It doesn't even make sense how you worded it — it's just nonsensical to say that responding to a story that makes demeaning assumptions about women is sexist. I'm assuming you meant to say they wouldn't have responded if the story if it had been written by a man? If that's the case: also bullshit.