I don't think I care what rank I am...but isn't professor considered a "male" label?
by 
janacide
ANSWERS: 5
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Hi janacide - You'll breeze right through it - There's woman professors to
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Absolutely not. Whether in modern universities or the ancient academies of Europe, "Professor" was the title used for a person of either gender who was teaching at a high level (equivalent to our college or university positions). Some languages, like German, require femininized endings for words referring to females, so you would hear "Professorin" instead of "Professor," like "Freundin" instead of "Freund" for friend, but Professor is the right title in English. It comes from "to profess," that is, to believe or to teach.
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No, there are professors of both genders. It is only that women were excluded from education in earlier times that would make one think this.
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Well, think about it, if you add the usual 'ess to the end of the word you are gong to have a lot of esses...professoress and it is a mouthful to say. Other feminine endings are ette, though that usually denotes little female/girl, and 'ina - professorina, not too bad. I think we just stick to professor for all genders.
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Not any more than 'teacher' or 'doctor' are male labels. Our social history is mainly of a patriarchy and women were legally and sometimes forcibly excluded from performing some functions with the result that we associate some professions predominantly with one sex or the other - males with being scientists and females with being nurses, for example. But that doesn't mean that the language doesn't include both in the meanings of words.
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