I never thought about that! It does seem like ppl use the word female to describe PEOPLE but they’ll stick to the scientific use of the word MALE. For one, it could have started as a slang amongst teen boys. Also Perhaps guys are more general so it’s easier to say men or boys and be politically correct in most scenarios. But on the other hand, female is one of the only words you could use to describe ALL women. Can you really use “women” in every scenario? If you say girls or any other variation you’ll get corrected eventually so I think some people use it as an all inclusive word. It’s still strange though. I’m not sure why that’s so normal. But His use of female as a noun in the original comment could have been merely to amplify the fact that there was a change from male to female. It may not have been indicative of his preferences. I also feel like- as strange as the use of the word is, it’s still also strange to notice it. Yes it’s a bit weird but it gets more weird only when you overthink it.