The House of Representatives has adopted changes to its standing rules that include thirteen pages of amendments replacing terms like “he,” “him,” and “his” with gender-neutral language.

I’m particularly pleased by the change of “chairman” to “chair,” outlined here:

(1) In the standing rules —

(A) strike “chairman” each place it appears and insert “chair”; and

(B) strike “Chairman” each place it appears and insert “Chair” (except in clause 4(a)(1)(B) of rule X).

As someone who’s spent a lot of time over the years in academia and activist circles, I’ve chaired my share of meetings, committees, and boards, and it seems like I always have at least one well-intentioned colleague to whom insisting on referring to chairs as chairmen is a point of honor.

I’ve never been a chairman of anything. I’ve always referred to myself as a chair. But I’ve found “chairman,” sitting as it does at the place where process geekery and language geekery collide, one of the toughest bits of gender-exclusive language to dislodge. 

So the next time that comes up, this will be a nice data point to have on my side. If “chair” is good enough for Barney Frank, John Conyers, and Henry Waxman (not to mention Louise Slaughter and Nydia Velasquez), it’s good enough for me.

 

(If you’re curious about why clause 4(a)(1)(B) of Rule X was an exception, by the way, it refers to “the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.”)