| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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5. Gender: Sexist Language and Assumptions
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| § 23. -man compounds |
| There are many compounds in English that are formed with man as the second element: words that describe occupations, such as alderman, councilman, deliveryman, fireman, and postman; words that describe one’s place in society, such as nobleman and workingman; even words that describe skills, such as craftsmanship, horsemanship, showmanship, and sportsmanship. In the past people have usually used these words of men and women indiscriminately, but now writers are increasingly using other, more inclusive terms in place of these, especially in the area of occupational titles. | 1 |
| In general, the Usage Panel is more accepting of -man compounds in words describing social roles, such as layman and freshman, than in occupational terms, such as spokesman and businessman. This may be because the panel views the occupational distinctions as having unjust economic consequences. A majority of the panel also accepts words based on -man when they refer to a role or class in the abstract, but when they refer specifically to a woman, the panel tends to reject them. However, as with the use of the so-called generic or gender-neutral man, the men on the panel are much more accepting of -man compounds than the women. The general use of chairman is acceptable to 67 percent of the panel (including 52 percent of the women and 76 percent of the men) in the sentence The chairman will be appointed by the Faculty Senate. But only 48 percent accept the use of the word in Emily Owen, chairman of the Mayor’s Task Force, issued a statement assuring residents that their views would be solicited, where it is applied to a woman—and in this case the gender split is not nearly so dramatic, only 8 percent. | 2 |
| To many writers, however, the distinction between general use and use in reference to women seems only a fine one, and they choose not to use such restrictive -man words at all. There are several strategies for replacing compounds formed with man. When referring to women, you can use parallel terms like businesswoman, spokeswoman, and chairwoman. You can also use common-gender terms coined with person, such as businessperson, spokesperson, and chairperson. For occupational titles ending in -man, new standards of official usage have been established by the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies. In official contexts, terms such as firefighter and police officer are now generally used in place of fireman and policeman. | 3 |
| In addition, there are some entirely new, more inclusive phrases, such as first-year student for freshman, letter carrier for mailman, and workers’ compensation for workmen’s compensation, with which you can replace older terms based on the -man model. You can also reword with a phrase, such as member of the clergy for clergyman, or try a clipped form, such as chair for chairman. English also has a number of long-standing gender-neutral agent nouns, such as cleric and head, that you can avail yourself of. | 4 |
| Of course there are some words, such as unsportsmanlike or showmanship, for which there are no exact synonyms. In cases like these you may need to completely reword the sentence if you want to avoid using a -man compound. | 5 |
| Since most of the new terms can give no offense to traditionalists, it only makes sense to use them and thereby avoid alienating the nontraditionalists in your audience. | 6 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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