chair/ -man/ -woman

[Hunter, Lynne R CIV SPAWARSYSCEN-PACIFIC, 71700]

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Jonathan Lighter
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2012 6:49 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: chair/ -man/ -woman

---------------------- Information from the mail header
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    American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      chair/ -man/ -woman
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Amy Kremer is Chairman of Tea Party Express.

When she appeared on CNN this morning, Soledad O'Brien introduced her as
"Chairman...[then dubiously] Is that  'Chairman' or 'Chairwoman'?'
Kremer sounded nonplussed: "Either one."

After the break, O'Brien reintroduced her as "ChairMAN" of the Tea Party
Express (her emphasis).

So female "chairman" is now regarded as so weird/ sexist/ Neanderthal
that
it requires not only confirmation but heavy emphasis.

JL

But not because it's regarded as such by Amy Kremer herself, I trust?
(Since when has the Tea Party been concerned about being sexist or
Neanderthal (not to mention weird)?)

The emphasis was probably just O'Brien's attempt at
correction/clarification after Kremer had instructed her in her
preference during the break. (Although your interpretation is certainly
more interesting.)

As for Kremer's initial reaction, I suspect she was nonplussed by having
the whole tiresome matter--and one that nobody's ever found any level of
comfort with--brought up this late in the day. (I wonder if
Blacks/African-Americans get tired of us white people fumbling around to
get the terminology right.)

Lynne Hunter


--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
truth."

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