I've had a problem with women for years that I need to get off my chest.
Why is "women" an adjective?
The news is always telling us about "women firefighters" being heroic and "women doctors" performing miracles.
We don't have plural adjectives in English. We don't pause in our hectics days to smell the pretties, reds roses.
And why is it that only adult females get this treatment? We'd scoff at our newspaper if they told us about "men nurses" being in short supply. And we never hear of Nancy Drew and Bess Marvin being referred to as "girls detectives."
I'm not the only person bothered by this. A Google search for "women adjective" gives you many discussions of this issue.
Is "female" a dirty word?
Friday, June 19, 2009
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2 comments:
As I remember it this started in the 70s. Maybe people wanted emphasize the adult status of female firefighters, etc. You could try to turn the tide by using "female" whenever you can.
There are some grammatically incorrect usages that grate on my nerves, but up to now "women" adjectives hasn't been one of them. Now that you bring it up, I'll probably do a lot of teeth-grinding.
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