I just came across this discussion and find it absolutely fascinating. Only English speakers would engage in such a debate. In no other language I know of is there this kind of gender ambiguity. It would unthinkable, not to say ridiculous, to refer to a Jewish woman in French as "juif" rather than "juive" -- the title of Modigliani's painting in the original is "La Juive." The same goes for German where a Jewish woman is "eine Jüdin" and feminine forms not only exist but are de rigueur in Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, etc. You get the picture. Gender specificity in all these langugages goes for other designations as well. One never has to wonder whether the doctor being referred to is a man or a woman. The tendency of neutralizing impoverishes the otherwise rich English language. Hail to those proud Jewesses who dare call themselves what they are in a world where eradicating distinctions is deemed a virtue.
I just came across this discussion and find it absolutely fascinating. Only English speakers would engage in such a debate. In no other language I know of is there this kind of gender ambiguity. It would unthinkable, not to say ridiculous, to refer to a Jewish woman in French as "juif" rather than "juive" -- the title of Modigliani's painting in the original is "La Juive." The same goes for German where a Jewish woman is "eine Jüdin" and feminine forms not only exist but are de rigueur in Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, etc. You get the picture. Gender specificity in all these langugages goes for other designations as well. One never has to wonder whether the doctor being referred to is a man or a woman. The tendency of neutralizing impoverishes the otherwise rich English language. Hail to those proud Jewesses who dare call themselves what they are in a world where eradicating distinctions is deemed a virtue.