Editing Gender marking in job titles (section)

==Evolution over time==
The case for switching to gender-neutral job titles usually makes an [[Ideology|ideological]] argument, that gender-specific job titles at some level promote [[sexism]] in the workplace.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=28 January 2015|title=Sexist Job Titles and the Influence of Language on Gender Stereotypes|url=https://humanities.byu.edu/sexist-job-titles-and-the-influence-of-language-on-gender-stereotypes/|access-date=9 December 2021|website={{!}} College of Humanities|language=en-US}}</ref> For example, fire chiefs have argued that when the public uses the term "fireman" instead of "[[firefighter]]", it reinforces the popular image that firefighting is only a job for men, and thus makes it difficult for them to recruit women.<ref>{{cite web |first=Dany |last=Cotton |title=Why We Are Campaigning to Shake Off the Outdated Term 'Firemen' |url= http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dany-cotton/firefighter-dany-cotton_b_18293684.html |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=17 October 2017 |edition=UK}}</ref> Studies found that people assume maleness when they read job titles with ''-man'',<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Deshmukh|first=Ameya|date=12 November 2019|title=Bias In Job Descriptions: Your First Step to Creating a More Diverse Workforce|url=https://www.mya.com/blog/unconscious-bias-in-job-descriptions/|access-date=9 December 2021|website=Mya}}</ref> and they found that women were less likely to apply to jobs that used ''-man'' in their application or that used gender-coded words such as "dominate" or "aggressive."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Callaghan |first=Jo |date=2025-02-27 |title=Removing Bias from Job Descriptions and Adverts {{!}} Gravitas |url=https://www.gravitasgroup.co.uk/blog/removing-bias-from-job-descriptions-and-adverts |url-status=live |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=Gravitas |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2"/>

During the 19th century, attempts to overlay [[Latin]] [[grammar]] rules onto English required the use of feminine endings in nouns ending with -ess.<ref name=ess>{{cite web |title=-ess - definition of -ess |url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/-ess |website=The Free Dictionary |access-date=26 November 2022}}</ref> This produced words like ''doctress'' and ''professoress'' and even ''lawyeress'',<ref name=ess /> all of which have fallen out of use; though ''waitress'', ''stewardess'', and ''actress'' are in modern use.

Use of the term ''chairman'' remains widespread in predominantly male sectors of society, but ''chairperson'' or ''chair'' is now widespread in society in general, at least in the US,<ref>{{cite web |title=person |at=Usage Note |work=[[American Heritage Dictionary]] |edition=4th |via=Bartleby.com |quote=Only 48 percent (43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) 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.' |url= http://www.bartleby.com/61/85/P0208500.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080421173654/http://www.bartleby.com/61/85/P0208500.html |archive-date=21 April 2008 |access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref> Canada and increasingly in the UK. For example, the boards of most [[Fortune 500]] companies in the [[United States]] are presided over by a "chairman" and also the overwhelming majority of the ([[FTSE 100]]) companies in the [[United Kingdom]] have a "chairman", while committees in the [[United States House of Representatives]] are presided over by a "chair", as of 2009.<ref>[http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/06/house-gender-neutral/ House language becomes gender neutral]</ref> Since most of these are, however, men, a more correct description of the current language situation needs to consider use in organisations whose chairperson is a woman. Less than half of the members of the ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]''<nowiki/>'s usage panel accept the use of the word ''chairman'' in describing a woman.<ref>{{cite web |title=man |at=Usage Note |work=[[American Heritage Dictionary]] |edition=4th |via=Bartleby.com |quote=Only 48 percent (43 percent of the women and 50 percent of the men) 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.' |url= http://www.bartleby.com/61/96/M0069600.html |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080222023136/http://www.bartleby.com/61/96/M0069600.html |archive-date=22 February 2008 |access-date=24 March 2021}}</ref>

Some [[Style guide|usage guides]], such as ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', advocate gender-neutral language in circumstances where all sexes are meant to be included.  For instance, a business might advertise that it is looking for a new ''chair'' or ''chairperson'' rather than ''chairman''. Gender-neutral language discourages ''chairman'', on the grounds that some readers would assume women and those of other genders are implicitly excluded from responding to an advertisement using this word.<ref>''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'' pp 243,4</ref>

''Feminist Philosophy of Language'', a guide on sexism in language and [[feminist language reform]], also discourages the usage of ''man'' and ''-man'' as gender-neutral because it has male bias and erases women under a masculine word.<ref name=":3">{{Citation|last1=Saul|first1=Jennifer|title=Feminist Philosophy of Language|date=2018|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/feminism-language/|encyclopedia=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|editor-last=Zalta|editor-first=Edward N.|edition=Fall 2018|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|access-date=10 December 2021|last2=Diaz-Leon|first2=Esa}}</ref> They also discourage titles like "lady doctor" because it makes men the default and implies that the ability and competence of workers, in this case a doctor, are dependent on their sex.<ref name=":3" />

The [[Women_in_combat#United_States|United States military]] has also examined traditional job titles, in line with the 2016 decision to allow women to serve in all combat jobs.<ref name="CBSNews">{{Cite news |title=U.S. military tackling gender-neutral job titles |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/some-branches-of-us-military-removing-man-from-job-titles/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=9 June 2016 |access-date=2 September 2023 |language=en}}</ref>