Any theories as to why? – Zed

…it might be woman have several relationship words to express affection – of troy

I think Helen is on the right track. On the other side of the coin, due to the constrictions our society traditionally attempts to impose on the role of men, men may have fewer words of affection that are traditionally acceptable for them to use. Consider: if men were to call their sons – at least sons above the age of three or four – ‘sweetie’ or ‘sweetheart’, many of those within earshot would probably think it a bit odd. Occasionally, I’ve heard men address their sons as ‘partner’ or ‘hot rod’, or something along those lines, but ‘sweetie’ and ‘sweetheart’, almost never. ‘Partner’ and ‘hot rod’ have more masculine connotations, whereas ‘sweetie’ and ‘sweetheart’ are decidedly less masculine. It seems, when a male addresses a male, the most masculine words are traditionally preferred. Hence, the word ‘son’ is used by men, more often than not. Perhaps, due to the traditional limitation of terms, coupled with a father’s affection for his son, the word ‘son’, when used for direct address, has taken on double duty, so to speak, and assumed a more affectionate connotation than the word ‘daughter’.

Women, being less limited by traditional social constrictions in the words they may use to express affection, can use ‘sweetie’ and ‘sweetheart’ when addressing their sons and not raise any eyebrows. Nevertheless, perhaps out of a conscious, or maybe subconscious adherence to the traditional social ideal of a man, as imposed upon the young male (in this case her son) by society, a woman may be more inclined to use the word ‘son’ when addressing him in public so as not to embarrass him. It may also be that, due to his nature, the young male presents fewer opportunities for the mother to feel an outpouring of, and thus express, affection.

Perhaps the word ‘daughter’ has not taken on the same affectionate connotation, when used in direct address, because it has not been forced into double duty. If a male or female wants to express affection to a young female, ‘sweetie’ and ‘sweetheart’ work just fine. Why use the word ‘daughter’ when one can use a more expressive word and has no traditional social constrictions not to?

As far as the word ‘son’ having a demeaning connotation is concerned, perhaps the traditional social ideal of a man plays a role here too. For a man to address another man as ‘son’ is really to call into question the addressee’s masculinity. Since that specific condition of masculinity does not exist within the traditional social ideal of a woman, the cognate of a man addressing another man as ‘son’ with demeaning intent, i.e. a woman addressing another woman as ‘daughter’ with demeaning intent, does not exist and would be nonsensical.