LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

In the conflict re our language
        there's a point on which I'm shady.
It pertains to the distinction
        'twixt a woman and a lady.
If you call someone the latter,
        all the feminists will bristle,
and no matter what you're saying
        they will quickly blow the whistle.
Now, it may be quite old-fashioned,
        but I think of my own mother
as a lady, yet a woman
        just as free as any other.
And to state it rather bluntly,
        for those folks who are not "fraidies":
Every lady is a woman,
        but all women are not ladies!
That is not a sexist statement,
        for the same is true of men:
While all gentlemen are males, hey,
        not all males are gentlemen!

(from If I Do Say So Myself)