Gendered words we must stop using

All living languages grow and adapt with the changing times and English is the prime example of that. The world has always been sexist and certain words in English reflect the roles society expects certain genders to play. In fact, the word Lady means 'who kneads the bread' while Lord is a modern version of a word that means 'one who guards the loaves'. Though they're both considered titles of honour today, they're a good example of gender roles in language.

However, times are changing and equality is becoming more and more commonplace. Here are some words that we need to wean out of our language to reflect that. While some words have a female equivalent now, we should remember that in many situations, especially those of business, it's not necessary to make the person's gender apparent.

Women have come a long way-- from taking care of the house to working in companies. So naturally, it should reflect in our vocabulary too. Instead of saying 'Man hours' we should try using the word 'Person hours' which is more gender neutral and inclusive to all.

Using the word 'Mail carrier' is more inclusive than the word 'Mailman'. After all, gender should not matter in any kind of work profile.

Many committees and boards are headed by women and instead of specifying Chairwoman, it's more professional to simply say Chair.

While businesswoman has been around for a while, businessperson or representative would be more inclusive, after all, gender should not matter in a business setting.

It's unfair to erase an entire part of our race from the word we use to define it, therefore it's better to say humankind, humanity or the human race.

With all the inventors who have been female, it's obvious why any product of the race should not be automatically gendered because of a vocabulary issue. One could say human-made, human-caused or artificial.

Law enforcement isn't only handled by men, it's become more and more open to women over the years but the fact that most people prefer saying policemen shows how we perceive the job to be for men. We should always take the gender-neutral titles like sergeant or constable or simply say police officer if unsure of the person’s title.

A woman is expected to take her husband's name after marriage and therefore her pre-wedding name is called her maiden name. Now many women are opting not to change their names or insisting their husbands also change their names. Saying family name is a better alternative to maiden name for it respects where the name came from, not a part of a woman’s life.

Dealing with dangerous fires is a job that requires a lot of courage and a cool head and this word implies it's just for men. While men are still a majority in the job, calling them firefighters makes it more inclusive and respects the difficulty of the job.

In almost any industry now, it's not only men working, therefore one should say, workforce, staff or company personnel instead.