People have different levels of sensitivity on these matters, and you must find a level that suits you. Some people are comfortable using generic he but avoid the generic use of compounds ending in -man. Some people find compounds using master- to be sexist and avoid using the term fellow, as in fellow colleagues, to refer to women. Practice in these matters is mixed, and it would behoove us all to acknowledge the difficulty inherent in many of these usages and to agree to disagree. Finally, it is important to remember that avoiding sexist terms and constructions is no guarantee that what you have written will be free of gender bias.
Sexist assumptions can be insidious.
A headline that reads Allegations Embroil Financier and Woman may seem innocuous at first, but if the article shows the woman to be a financier as well, you have to wonder about the politics of the headline editor, who has assumed that a financier must naturally be a man and that a woman's professional status is somehow not worth mentioning. The trouble with gender bias is that it often takes real effort to uncover it, even in your own writing, and you have to train yourself to look for it. You can begin by reading the following entries. All rights reserved.