feminine designations

feminine designations

For most agent nouns and nouns indicating occupation no distinction is made between masculine and feminine: clerk, cook, councillor, counsellor, cyclist, doctor, lecturer, martyr, motorist, nurse, oculist, palmist, president, pupil, secretary, singer, teacher, typist, etc. A few, such as actress, hostess, manageress, and usherette, exist in feminine forms, but those in -mistress corresponding to the masculine -master (e.g. postmistress, schoolmistress) have fallen out of use. There is still some expectation that some occupations will be held by a man (e.g. chef) and that others will be held by a woman (e.g. secretary), but these barriers are falling fast. In practice, if there is a need to be specific about the gender of an occupational or agent noun, a feminine noun such as woman, lady, or girl is sometimes used (woman driver, lady doctor, etc.), although this too can offend sensitivities because corresponding male designations are only occasionally used in contexts in which the occupation has strong female associations (male nurse, male typist, etc.). The circumstances of these uses illustrate well the tensions between linguistic convention and social progress. See also -ess, -ette, -man, -person, -trix, -woman, gender neutrality.