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See link for discussion of Gender Neutral Language. Some languages assign masculine feminine or neuter genders (not male and female) to nouns. English does not; modern English does not have 'grammatical gender'. If it did, then window would already be masculine feminine or neuter. You don't typically change gender of nouns in languages that have grammatical gender. In modern English there are remnants of grammatical gender from the Old English period in the form of gender specific pronouns. It can be complicated, we are sure, for ESL students whose native languages have grammatical gender. It is hard to refute that 'fireman' itself, political correctness aside for the moment, refers to men and could be construed as a masculine noun. But there is no grammatical gender in English. From the point of view of grammar the word is not masculine, it is not feminine and it is not neuter. A gender neutral form of fireman is firefighter, and this is satisfying if you are talking about people who want to put fires out. Fireperson seems strangely wrong, but perhaps only because it is not used. One complication is that the word fireman has a meaning distinct from firefighter. A fireman is a person who tends a fire and does not want to put it out. Typically a fireman tends a fire that is fueling steam engines. So another word would be called for when there is a need for gender neutral language. Perhaps this would be a case for the word 'fireperson', if it is ever needed.

Considering this kind of thing the problem with modern English is to use language appropriately without regard to the gender of people. This refers to gender neutral language, which is different from grammatical gender. The person who chairs a board of directors or trustees could be called 'chairperson', for example, or chairwoman when appropriate, rather than using the word 'chairman' without regard for the person's gender. Some gender biased English words and phrases are easily and quickly replaced by gender neutral alternatives, like chairperson. Other solutions are not as easily found and at some point English is likely to accept conventions that will be developed over time by speakers and writers of English. English is continually growing and changing.

As a note, it can be difficult for native speakers of English to really get a handle on noun gender in foreign languages. In Spanish for example, the word for shirt is camisa which is feminine. But men wear shirts don't they? It is not primarily about sexuality; it has to do with the origins and natures of the words themselves.

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