man/Man (pseudogeneric)

person/persons, people, humans, human beings, the human race/family, civilization, society, individuals, one, someone, anyone, souls, society, all of us, ourselves, everyone, humankind, humanity, community, the larger community, residents, inhabitants, adults, citizens, taxpayers, workers, members, participants, hands, party/parties, our ancestors, women and men. Or, be specific: Neolithic peoples, early settlers, 15th-century Europe, civilization as we know it. Although many people, including both women and men, insist that "man" is a generic term, that usage was declared obsolete in the 1970s by both the National Council for Teachers of English and the Oxford English Dictionary, and a close reading of books published before the 1970s shows that "man" never was truly generic. Psychoanalyst Erich Fromm wrote that "man" needs food, shelter, and access to females. The "man/men" in our own constitution couldn't have been generic since it took two constitutional amendments to give the vote to those who were not white men. For a complete discussion of pseudogeneric "man," see Writing Guidelines. See also fall of man, man (adult male human being), manhood.