Go to content Go to search

 

In my day we had two kinds of waiter.

One of the things I enjoy most about living in the future is that new words tend not to have male-only connotations, requiring a second version to be invented for females.

A female podcaster is not called a podcastress, for example. There’s no such thing as a blogette.

Isn’t it about time we did away with the rest of the words that were invented to side-step a traditionally sexist culture? What is it about the word “waiter” that implies man? Why do we need the word “hostess” (except of course with a capital H, so we know you’re not talking about Little Debbie)?

Here’s a quick list of more unnecessary words that I’d like you to stop using, because the generic title already avoids specifying a man:

  • stewardess
  • actress
  • comedienne
  • webmistress
  • sorceress

I’m kind of sad about that last one, because it’s such a beautiful word. Maybe we can pretend that female sorcerers can cast different spells, and therefore deserve their own title.

(aside) Last night I was listening to a U.S. Representative address the Speaker of the House with “Mr. Speaker.” I don’t know if it was just an old habit dying hard, or if it’s a written tradition to address the Speaker that way. Either way, something needs fixing.

Comments [1]

16 February 2007, 14:08

  1. What would you propose to do with the word “witch”?


    — Darren R. Sussman    17 February 2007, 21:24    #