What word would you use to describe people who fish?

An Australian ruminates

A question came to my desk the other day: "Hello, can I ask a language question? Is it 'fishermen' or 'fishers'?

"Fishermen is obviously discriminatory, but fishers seems to be disliked by many within ABC Rural. And fisherpeople is out of the question. As someone who has never fished I feel like I have no authority to decide."

It's a good question, asked with noble intentions. But one thing made me pause: is "fishermen" an exclusionary term?

There's a line on this that says it isn't. Historically speaking, this position might even be correct: the Oxford English Dictionary does note that the suffix -men was considered until the 20th century to include women, if only by implication.

But! Language changes. There's even a nice little term for this: the etymological fallacy.

"Decimate" may once have meant "to kill one in every 10", but only the most rusted-on Roman legionary would today argue that the words means anything more than to more generally devastate or ruin.

And, if society has changed to be more inclusive of female perspectives, then so too should the language we use.

Fishermen, runs the non-sexist language reform line, could be seen to be as exclusionary as terms like chairmen. It treats maleness as the norm in matters involving more than one angler, and steps should be taken to rectify this disparity.

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