English has been accused by many as being sexist due to having such words as: mailman, fireman, chairman, foreman, etc. which end in –man and perhaps give the impression that these occupations are better suited to males than females. Several questions here can profitably be addressed. First, do you think it is the case that children learning English as they grow up are indeed affected by this and that this contributes to sexist attitudes in the society? Second, should society be making an effort to replace these terms with more gender-neutral ones (e.g. mail carrier, fire-fighter, chairperson, etc.)? If successful, would this lexical replacement lower the amount of sexism in society?
