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Discussion on: Why I'm Not One of the Guys

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Ben Sinclair

I haven't read all the comments, but in case it hasn't been mentioned, the "-man" in words like "fireman" doesn't come from "man as in male" but is more like something from "human". It's a quirk of English, but it doesn't have its roots in anything gender-y.

It's more like a hypercorrection to change "chairman" to "chairperson" when the "-man" is an unfortunate coincidence, and there's often already a serviceable word for the position ("chair", in this example).

I'm generally less enthusiastic about adding "person" to things because it sounds like you're trying to do something positive while swapping a suffix for a redundant word: everyone is a person. I wouldn't say I'm a "software person" when introducing myself (well, I might, but more like I'd say I'm a cat person, and that's getting off-topic). I'd say I was a software developer or coder or something. That's why "fire_fighter_" works so well, it describes the job better than the original (ask Ray Bradbury to elaborate) and is nice and inclusive.