Let's just call it beer. It's what most of my family members recognize it as, regardless of what it looks like.
I've tried explaining that every dark beer isn't heavy, doesn't have to be stout/porter like, etc. They have convinced themselves that beer is beer. In a way I think this is why breweries have been able to get a way with slapping IPA on everything, the average consumer really doesn't care about the style distinctions. They either like it or don't like and that's it.
Like many I think Pale Ale fits a large chunk of what get called session IPAs or NE IPAs. Sure some might be hazy so they call it an NE but they're too balanced to fit what an NE should be.
Honestly, the Belgians got it right 100s of years ago. Dubbel, Tripel, Quad, Strong Dark, Strong Golden, etc. Very vague and more or less based on ABV level. Sure you can get into their fruit and sour beers, bit even those are pit into vague categories.
Issue then as a consumer is what makes one Dubbel different than another. Same issue arises with IPAs, what hops are in it, this is one of my biggest gripes when strolling through aisles. I don't like certain hops so I don't want to buy a beer that has those, so I have to go web browsing to find what hops are used, just put it on the damn label.