Risker wrote:

 

I confess that this post made me smile. Back in the day when my feminist streak was first being nurtured, the differentiation of men and women doing the same job by the use of suffixes was a major thorn in the side of most feminists. Over time, there was often a complete change in terminology, e.g. steward/stewardess to flight attendant, or "manholes" becoming maintenance accesses since not everyone working in them was a man. Some occupations dropped the 'feminine" suffix entirely, usually as that was the preference of the women who worked within that field. ("Comedian" and "actor" are particularly noteworthy examples.)

 

It seems we may be coming full circle, in that an increasing number of feminist women are seeking to return to the sex-differentiated terms. 

 

My observation:

 

    As I noted a long time ago, at the beginning of this list, yoga (a field overwhelmingly, but hardly of necessity, female) is a notable exception, so many female practitioners embrace "yogini", the female form of "yogi."

 

Daniel Case