[net.women] 'man' and non-sexist writing

emrath (04/27/83)

#R:flairvax:-11600:uiucdcs:31600013:000:50
uiucdcs!emrath    Apr 26 06:26:00 1983

How 'bout having femailmen deliver the mail.

:-)

wombat (04/27/83)

#R:flairvax:-11600:uicsl:16400003:000:868
uicsl!wombat    Apr 26 13:11:00 1983

Do you suppose that the reason man can mean male person or all persons
is because back in the days of Old English women weren't
really considered persons, and the man=all persons definition was
accurate?  And why the distinction between woman and man(all), but
no distinction between man(male) and man(all)?  Don't rely so heavily
on what dictionaries say- just because the Webster's sitting on the
desk here says that 'mistress' means 'woman who has power ... as, the
female head of a household; a woman who employs or supervises servants'
or 'woman who has achieved mastery in some field' if you are told that
Fanny Friendly is Joe Blow's mistress, what are you going to think?
Children don't learn the etymology of a word when they learn the word,
and they are the hope for equality -- most grownups have already made
up their minds, for or against.
						Wombat

wombat (04/29/83)

#R:rabbit:-138700:uicsl:16400004:000:137
uicsl!wombat    Apr 28 08:35:00 1983

The only problem with your language is that uicsl!wombat is a
"she" and not a "he."
						Wombat
					decvax!pur-ee!uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat

wombat (04/29/83)

#R:rabbit:-138700:uiucuxc:22800009:000:69
uiucuxc!wombat    Apr 29 00:02:00 1983

Sorry your both wrong, "wombat" is an "it" not a "he" or a "she" .
 

wombat (04/30/83)

#R:rabbit:-138700:uicsl:16400006:000:247
uicsl!wombat    Apr 29 10:34:00 1983

Perhaps uiucuxc!wombat is an it, but uicsl!wombat is definitely a she.
(Are you 'the wombat of the west'?)
							uiucdcs!uicsl!wombat
(And for rabbit!jj: just because you use entemology to mean etymology
doesn't mean the rest of the world will.)