Quiz: Chairman or chairwoman?

[Troy]

Well, as an intern teacher of "first-year composition"
- I'd say that the "_man" makes "Chairman" non-gender
neutral for the same reason I can't teach "freshman
composition" in today's cultural climate.

...and to be honest - I think there's something to it.
Of course there is always the "Chairperson" option
which while decidedly clunky, at least avoids complete
dehumanization / objectification of the role.


--- Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM> wrote:

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> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter
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> Subject:      Re: Quiz:  Chairman or chairwoman?
>
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>
> How do we know that "chairman" is gender-specific ?
> If it is, hasn't it become so only since the
> introduction of "chairwoman" ?
>
>   JL
>
> "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
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> Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
> Subject: Quiz: Chairman or chairwoman?
>
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>
> At 11/2/2006 04:06 PM, Page Stephens wrote:
> >What do you call an actress these days, a woman
> actor or simply an actor?
> >
> >As far as I can tell the use of a word which
> denotes the sex of a person is
> >going out of style and therefore the use of gender
> specific words denoting
> >the sex of the person is disappearing..
> >...
> >The men got there first ...
>
> A short quiz (do NOT consult your local OED, or
> other historical dictionary).
>
> Which came first, chairman or chairwoman?
>
> By how many decades?
>
> How many centuries later did chair arrive? (For the
> occupier, not
> the place he sat.)
>
> Which came first, chairwoman or chair?
>
> Joel
>
>
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