Can we end the nonsense of ‘chairman’ once and for all?

One of the things that gives me great cognitive dissonance and frustration is seeing people – sometimes people I respect – give their title as ‘chairman’.

There’s simply no good reason in 2023 to have a gendered title for a job – especially one considered to be the peak of corporate seniority.

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Many people claim that ‘chairman’ is the original, non-gendered meaning, and that ‘chair’ is a neologism. Indeed, some people have refused roles ‘rather than be referred to as an item of furniture’. I, for my part, would refuse to accept a position the title of which was ‘chairman’. 

Actually the use of the word ‘chair’ to indicate a role or person with authority is extremely old.

If you feel that the gendering of a phrase of position or authority or attribution has no impact, may I suggest you consider the attached list of gender fliptropes? These are from the old blog ‘systems thinking for girls’ (which, if I remember rightly, was authored by Charlotte Pell?) – a similar effect is achieved by the wildly popular Twitter and Facebook account @manwhohasitall

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I enjoy the old lore of ‘business’ – so my preferred origin myth for the phrases ‘board’ and ‘chair’ is that in the original ‘companies’ (allegedly from con pane – to break bread with others), the meals were served in rich homes – so rich that they could afford a board, from which a table was made from the assembled company sitting on the ground and supporting the board – and a single chair, in which the person given authority was seated. This gives us every right to choose the gender-neutral and perfectly understood word ‘chair’.

An alternative, if nobody is to be offended, might be to avoid reification of the role, and refer simply to the activity – the person who chairs the board, is chairing the meeting etc? 

(Note: we don’t, of course, say the chairman is chairmanning the meeting, from the chairman’s chair).

I’ll give more examples in the notes below.

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What relic of outdated language do YOU think holds business back?

Notes

Wikipedia has:                                                                                                      

The term chair is sometimes used in lieu of chairman, in response to criticisms that using chairman is sexist.^{[11][12][13][14]} It is commonly used today, and has been used as a substitute for chairman since the middle of the 17th century, with its earliest citation in the Oxford English Dictionary dated 1658-9, only four years after the first citation for chairman.^[15]

First, the metonymic use of chair to mean an authority is quite old. The OED gives one of the definitions and earliest examples of this use as

[3]. a. A seat of authority, state, or dignity; a throne, bench, judgement-seat, etc.

1393 J. Gower Confessio III. iv. 125 Ianus with double face In his chare hath take his place. b. Place or situation of authority, etc.

1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Matt. xxiii. 2 Vpon the chaier of Moyses, scribis and Pharisees seeten.

Bishops, episcopal authority:

[4]. a. The seat of a bishop in his church; hence fig. episcopal dignity or authority. Obs. or arch.

1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xl. 28
Seynt peter preched in antyoche and ther he made a noble chirche in whiche he sate fyrste in his chaier.

1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. E3, Treads downe the Strumpets pride, That sits vpon the chaire of Babylon.

Here’s a reference to professorship:

[6]. a. The seat from which a professor or other authorized teacher delivers his lectures.

c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 518 To be rad‥in the chaier of scolis.

1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxon. II. 506
His prudent presiding in the Professors chair.

Continuing —

b. Hence: The office or position of a professor.

1816 Scott Antiquary III. ii. 39 Fighting his way to a chair of rhetoric.

1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xii. 210 Many chairs and many fellowships are made beds of ease.

1875 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. (ed. 3) Pref. p. x (note) The author had still the Chair of Poetry at Oxford.

[8]. The seat, and hence the office, of the chief magistrate of a corporate town; mayorship. past, above, or below the chair [[…]

1682 Eng. Elect. Sheriffs 26 Some people‥did so industriously stickle for Sir John Moor’s Election to the Chair.

1714 London Gaz. No. 5261/4, The Aldermen below the Chair on Horseback in Scarlet Gowns.

Presiding Chairs!

[9]. a. The seat occupied by the person presiding at a meeting, from whence he directs its business; hence, the office or dignity of chairman of a meeting, or of the Speaker of the House of Commons.

^{In various phrases, as to take the chair, to assume the position of chairman, which in most cases formally opens a meeting; to put in the chair, to elect as chairman; in the chair, acting as chairman; to leave or vacate the chair, to cease acting as chairman, which marks the close of a meeting.}

1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 462, I move that your Speaker forbear the Chair.

1702 Clarendon’s Hist. Rebellion I. iv. 233 The Committee of the Commons appointed Mr Pym to sit in the Chair.

Chair! Chair!

b. Often put for the occupant of the chair, the chairman, as invested with its dignity […], e.g. in the cry Chair! Chair! when the authority of the chairman is appealed to, or not duly regarded; to address the chair, support the chair, etc. Now also used as an alternative for ‘chairman’ or ‘chairwoman’, esp. deliberately so as not to imply a particular sex.

1658–9 T. Burton Diary 23 Mar. (1828) 243 The Chair behaves himself like a Busby amongst so many school-boys‥and takes a little too much on him.

Other sources:

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/index/2006/04/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman

http://www.smartcompany.com.au/leadership/38838-origin-of-the-species-is-chairman-a-gender-neutral-term.html#

http://www.gorbould.com/blog/index.php/2006/07/is-chairman-sexist-2/comment-page-1/

http://www.word-detective.com/112304.html

Some examples of how to use chair in different situations are:

• This is Ruth Michaels, chair of the Women Returners’ Network.
• You should address your remarks to the chair.
• The vicar, full of apologies, took his seat as chair of the meeting.
• Sir John Hill, chair of the Atomic Energy Authority, gave the opening speech.
• Margaret Downes is this year’s chair of the Irish Institute.
• Siobhan was a BBC radio journalist, and chair of the Scottish Ballet.
• The Committee of the Commons appointed Mr Pym to sit in the chair.
• The Chair behaves himself like a Busby amongst so many school-boys‥and takes a little too much on him.