There is a strong modern imperative to use the word person, not man, in any statement which is intended to apply to either sex
While I am no expert in how spoken English developed, it seems natural for English speakers to collapse human into man
There is a sense in which the male of the species loses out here – there is then no formal word which specifies unambiguously the adult male of the species
The argument becomes interesting when you consider the animal kingdom. ‘Dog’ is not gender specific, though there is a specifically female term. Horses can be different. Cows are (slightly) ambiguous
I have never felt happy about the supposedly inclusive nature of the word ‘person’
The problem comes from the abstract
Humanity is what we share
Personality is unique, fragmentary, fragmented
