Why is English becoming "unmasculine"?

Question

Lately, I've noticed that it's become somewhat "impropper" to use any word ending in -man (i.e. chairman, fireman, policeman, etc), but replacing the suffix with -person. Doesn't it get kinda tiresome to add another syllable to the end of a word? And why are people using "him or her" where "him" would suffice? I thought that when one refers to a person (like a child or coworker for example), it's best to use "him". As an example: "Instead of telling your child how to do a math problem, why not step him or her through it?" Doesn't that read harder than, "Instead of telling your child how to do a math problem, why not step him through it?" I think English was fine before those changes came around.

(Yes, there are legit questions in here ;)

Maybe I should clarify the headline. Why is it becoming neuter? (in linguistics, neuter refers to a word's gender, i.e: him is masculine, her is feminine. English doesn't have many neuter words.)

So does that make it a feminist issue?

Answer 1

ew

Answer 2

This is a very strange and odd question. Perhaps it is changing because women are doing these jobs too and it is strange to call a group of people that contains women by a male name. How about when you refer to a doctor it is strange to say ask him because many doctors are female. English is a hard language it is not feminine sounding. If you want a frilly language that is romantic and fancy try French. English is functional. You are strange and perhaps you should look of the word misogamy. Perhaps your question should read why is English not misogamist?

Hum I did not even notice, firefighter and police officer sounds so much more professional than calling them by their gender. A doctor was never called by a gender an attorney never was either. It is interesting it makes these people sound less blue collar to take away the gender part of the name. Perhaps it is a good thing. It also promotes them in the world as more of a professional. But while this is happening it is getting to be affectionate and friendly for all genders to refer to each other to refer to eachother as dude to I will close with that and say perhaps this a good thing

Answer 3

All for the sake of being politically correct.

And feminists, of course, who push to promote these issues. I don't blame them, though.

I don't really know of anyone who constantly uses "him or her" to describe an entity of unknown gender. Instead, I hear "they" a lot, even if the speaker is talking about a single person.

English grammar and style books have also long abandoned the "him" pronoun, so the "authorities" on this matter will tell you that this is definitely not the "best" usage.

Your last sentence example is somewhat weird, since it sounds like something a math teacher would say to a student's parent. All of this might be based on assumption, but wouldn't the teacher know what gender the child is?

Still, I have heard the increasing use of "they" over "him", "her", or "him and/or her" and this might very well be the new replacement rule for describing entities of unknown gender whether they be singular or plural.

The US is generally pushing to be PC all the time, in order not to offend or single out anyone. Last I checked, in the Spanish language, whenever one is referring to a group of people, even if there is only one male in the group and everyone else is female, one should use "ellos" (the masculine form of "them" in Spanish) to refer to the entire group. I think to this day, this is still their official ruling on that grammar point.

Food for thought.

Answer 4

Believe it or not people have problems with it. When it is always assumed that men are dominant people start to assume it. Since I am male I've never gone through this type of discrimination but I have had college professors address the issue before lecturing.

Usually they say something like "Listen, I use him and her and he and she interchangeably. If you have a problem with what I say get over it or address me after lecture."

It's within grounds of political correctness. Not all firefighters are men, so technically the term fireman is wrong when you are speaking about a woman firefighter.

I personally don't know a single female who is upset by terms like that but I do feel it is of certain importance for social change. It may not seem like a big deal but in reality it is.

It’s important for any socially non-dominate gender or race to challenge commonalities like terminology in order to keep discrimination under control. Even though on the surface it just seems silly.

Answer 5

The reason is that people have forgotten the true meaning of the word man. Man traditionally means, "Adult Human Being" there are english texts that say, "the princess grew up to be a good man", that does not mean that she became a male but rather that she became a decent adult human being. Woman is a female, adult human being and a wereman is a male adult human being. The feminist movement is the primary driving force behing the use of both the masculine and the feminine in the english language. I have no problem with people who occasionally mix things up and use the feminine while giving instructions but the use of both is dopey.

using the old definition of man:

Fireman: an adult human being who puts out fire.

Policeman: an adult human who enforces law and order.

Postman: an adult human being who delivers the Post.

ETC.

Answer 6

Well, considering that there are many women that are working now in positions usually dominated by men, some concessions in language have to be made. You wouldn't call a chairperson who was female chairman, or a female police officer a policeman. They are women, and it is proper English, as well as manners, to address them as such.

As far as him or her, I think the addition of a couple of words to acknowledge that your child may also be a girl is pretty nice for a change. I have two daughters- they get really bent out of shape hearing the typical male instructions.My oldest said once, Why do they call history after men? His-story it was it sounded like to her, and it made her mad.

I also disagree with items being referred to as "she" - such as cars, boats, churches... I am not an item, and dont want to be lumped into that catagory.

So, while I acknowledge that yes, English is becoming less masculine, I respectfully disagree with your opinion. I think it was way overdue.

Answer 7

Good question! Political correctness and the evolution of a language. In my opinion being PC is a load of BS. For example a little person aka midget is vertically challenged, a retard is mentally challenged. Get the F out of here, seriously cut the BS. We're too hung up on being politically correct and making people feel good about themselves cuz we're too worried about peoples' self esteem.

Answer 8

So why not come up with a word meaning "him or her". I would not want to be called chairwoman and I don't think a female would appreciate being called chairman. The language is attempting to become more precise. It's an awkward process.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

It is because of the feminists, and a police woman who doesn't like to be referred to as a policeman.

As far as referring to someone, why not use, "why don't you step them through it?"

Them=the other person, whether male or female

Answer 11

because people want every single thing to be equal including the words. i dont think it makes sense to change words that have been used for a long time but thats what people esp. feminists want to do.