I’ve heard arguments for the opposite: women who act should be called actors, not actresses, the logic being that the -ess suffix is diminutive, so all actors should just be actors. It seems like there are perfectly reasonable arguments to be made for either side.
That’s called invisibilization of women. The French language, which is my mother tongue, does that a lot, and we’re fighting against that.
Does that work if you are trying to include more than two genders?
I’ve heard arguments for the opposite: women who act should be called actors, not actresses, the logic being that the -ess suffix is diminutive, so all actors should just be actors. It seems like there are perfectly reasonable arguments to be made for either side.
It may be possible in English, I’m not competent enough to have a strong opinion.
In French, as all words are gendered, the things are different.
The distinction, or ignoring the distinction?
The invisibilization.