Even though the language has finally begun to change somewhat, there are still a number of words with diminutive feminine suffixes kicking about. Some of them I don't mind, some of them I outright hate, and some of them I've never had any problem with, since I first became aware, in the fall of 1993, that putting a diminutive suffix on a word can often give the impression of trivialising women. Some of these words include, in no particular order:

Aviatrix/Aviatress—Ick! Dated and silly, and thankfully rarely ever used anymore, hailing from the days when "a lady pilot" was a novelty, and typically women who chose to be aviators weren't taken as seriously as men. Many people just assumed they'd only be aviators until they got married and had families, or that it was just some silly passing phase of theirs.

Comedienne—Ugh! I swear this word makes me cringe! It's so inane, and sounds really affected and pretentious, like "comedianess" and "comedianette" didn't sound right, so people had to dip into another language to find a word denoting a comedian's biological sex. Unless you're speaking or writing in French, there is no reason this lame dated silly word should be used, ever. What, aren't female comedians as funny, capable, and original as their male counterparts?

Actress—Though I've rarely ever used this word since what my 8th grade Spanish teacher told us about the group of female actors who had stopped using that word, come to think of it, I don't really have a huge problem with it, since it doesn't sound as dated or dismissive as certain other words with diminutive female endings on them. However, I still use the word "actor" to refer to both sexes.

Songstress—Never gave much thought to this one, but come to think of it, it does have a bit of a dated feel to it, although I will grant that it sounds more mellifluous than the masculine/unisex counterpart "songster."

Seamstress—Don't have a problem with this one. Does this word even have a male counterpart?

Lioness—No problem. Using a feminine suffix in this case really does change the association and image. A lioness is a female lion and has no mane, and is the one who is out all day working hard at bringing home the bacon, while a lion has a huge flowing mane, perhaps to try to compensate for the fact that all he's good for is making baby lions and staying home watching the kidlets while Mommy is out rustling up some grub.

Goddess—Even I think it's silly to find this word dated and sexist. "Female deity" sounds just as affected and pretentious as the dumb French word "comedienne." A goddess is a female deity (e.g., Isis, Aphrodite, Venus, Flidais, Hera, Nemetona), while a god is a male deity (e.g., Zeus, Osiris, Fergus, Pluto, Poseidon, Thor). They're both deities, but the use of the female suffix is so ancient, well-established, and long-standing that it would be truly silly to find it sexist and dismissive in this case.

Priestess—Yes. Again changes how one pictures someone in this role. A priest is a leader of a Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, or Episcopal church (and more often than not male, except for the latter two denominations), whereas a priestess one associates with the ancient world, the Oracle at Delphi, or a modern-day Wiccan coven.

Sorceress—Like "goddess," this word too has a long-standing well-established usage, and also slightly changes how one pictures one in this role.

Poetess—Ick! Go crawling back to the 17th century!

Authoress—Ibid!

Using a word like "chairman" or "businessman" to refer to a woman—Who ever thought this was a good logical sensible reasonable idea? I can't believe women and girls were once indoctrinated into believing not only that masculine pronouns could refer equally to men and women but also that these other words could also refer equally to women. What, did no woman in business, even in an era when the profession was hugely dominated by men, ever ask, ever to herself, why she was being called a businessman when she wasn't even a man?!

Millionairess—I first saw this dated silly word when reading Sholem Aleichem's collection of stories Tevye the Dairyman (on which, of course, the popular musical Fiddler on the Roof was later based). It's in the chapter where Beilke, the fifth of the seven daughters, has the prospect of marrying a rich older man, Podhoretz, whom the (male) matchmaker has found for her. Tevye doesn't like Podhoretz at all, for a number of reasons, but is telling his wife that if Beilke marries him she'll be "a millionairess." Golde doesn't understand what that word means, and is told it's the wife of a millionaire (what, couldn't a woman become a millionaire on her own?). Who even uses this word anymore? It sounds so dated, insulting, and silly!

Billionairess—Just as silly.

Princess—No problem with titles ending in diminutive female suffixes. After all, this legitimately does impact how one associates the person in the role. A prince and a princess present different images, do different things. Only the most radical of all feminists, I would hope, would have a problem with a word like "princess"!

Countess—Ibid.

Duchess—Ibid.

Prioress—Ibid.

Abbess—Ibid.

Marchioness—Ibid. I know this word might not be familiar to everyone; it's a female Marquis.

Baroness—Ibid.

Mistress—This word certainly has a different connotation than "master" or "mister"! Although originally it was just the long form of Mrs. and Miss.

Headmistress—Yes; this is so obviously a needed female suffix, since a master and mistress are not the same, not like just ramming a diminutive suffix onto the end of a word like "actor" or "aviator." A headmaster and a headmistress may serve in the same role, but what gender-neutral word is there, really, to refer to them?

Adventuress—Dated and silly.

Bastardess—I would love to know if I made this word up myself or if it's been used before I began using it in 1996. Normally I would find it just as dated and silly as "aviatrix" or "authoress," but traditionally, I believe, the word "bastard" has been used to refer to male children only.

Demirep—The only word in the English language from whence is made feminine by putting a suffix on at the beginning as opposed to rammed on at the end. The male version is "rep," and having found out about this word, I think it sounds silly and dated too. "Demi" means the same as "semi" or "hemi"; that is, only half, partly, not a fully real whole complete entity. You're not a real rep, sweetie, you're just a "demirep." How sexist is that?!

Sistren—Like "brethren," this word too was used in Middle English, as the plural of "sisters." I know I shouldn't use "brethren" to refer to both men and women, knowing it's really the Middle English plural of "brothers," but it's like still saying "Eskimo" and using the term "primitive man," even though I know you're not supposed to say those things anymore. Although a number of feminists have revived the word, and they're almost the only people you'll ever find using it anymore, since about the year 1600. And even now the word "brethren" is rarely used anymore either, even to refer to members of a religious organisation.

Feminine equivalents of masculine names—Some I don't mind, since they're so common and don't always look like they're a forced feminisation (e.g., Charlotte, Georgia, Theodora, Davina, Thomasina, Julia, Avra), but others are so practically screaming that the parents really wanted a boy and just rammed an A or some other suffix onto the end of a name you nearly always see on a boy (e.g., Isaaca, Yitzchaka, Jakoba, Yaakova, Samuella, Mattea, Leonida). Sure there's always a chance you really liked a name like Raphaela, Leonarda, Timothea, Alfreda, or Josefa, but more often than not it just seems like you were determined to have a son named Joseph or Isaac and ended up with the "wrong" sex, and just had to use the name anyway, forced-looking or not. Oh well, at least I'd prefer a Josefa or a Leonida anyday over a girl named Aidan, Madison, McKenna, McKinley, Ryan, Addison, Tyler, Taylor, Kendall, Rory, Devon, Finley, Jordan, Riley, Payton, Skylar, Paris, Cameron....

Waitress—Sometimes I do still use this word, though I'm more likely to just say "waiter" to refer to one waiting on a table. One's biological sex makes no difference towards how well or poorly one conducts this job.

Stewardess—Ibid.

Sculptress—Yuck. This word can go crawling on back to the 17th century along with its dear dated friends "authoress" and "poetess."

Usherette—Ew. Somehow the "-ette" ending seems even more noxious, offensive, and trivialising than "-ess." Who even uses this silly word anymore?

Suffragette—It can go either way; I might say "suffragist," but the use of "suffragette" also has a long and just as valid history, and this is after all what many of these brave strong determined impassioned women wanted to go by, at least in Britain. Over in America, the women involved in this brave noble cause always found the word insulting.

Majorette—Yes, demeaning and silly, but how many men are into baton-twirling anyway? And "major" evokes a whole other image, that of the seventh rank up (I believe) in the Army.

Sailorette—Who the fuck coined this word?!

Chaufferette—Seriously, how are you supposed to take anyone seriously when she's got a silly suffix rammed onto the end of her title?

Alumna—No problem with this word since it hails from Latin, a gendered language.

Blonde/Brunette—I didn't know these were originally in reference to only women, and that men were called "blond" and "brunet." The alleged male equivalents (which were never the universal spellings either) just look unfinished and wrong, like someone forgot the last letter.

Heroine—I use the word "hero" to refer to both sexes; "heroine" seems a bit dated and silly to me. Additionally, I now prefer to use the word "shero" when referring to a woman.

History—No problem, though I do tend to use the recently-coined term "herstory" when referring specifically to womens' history.

Gentlewoman—This word seems a bit dated, though "gentleman" doesn't. Does anyone use it anymore?

A "lady" anything—Thank God most civilised modern people no longer say stuff like "a lady doctor" or "a lady firefighter"! Although unfortunately we still have this problem on the opposite side of the fence, with many men in professions traditionally held only by women constantly having their own biological sex referred to, as in, most notably, "a male nurse."

Sportsmanship—I dislike the sexist "generic man" attribute of this word, so I say "sportspersonship" instead.

Penmanship—Sometimes I will still say this word, but I much prefer "penpersonship." Hey, I know this may automatically get me branded as "too PC," but it's not like I'm forcing everyone to use this term too. If you don't like it, don't use it. No one's forcing you to do anything.

Noblewoman—No problem, since the corresponding term "nobleman" still seems to be used with occasional regularity.

Freshman—Hate it, hate it, hate it. I was not a man when I was in the ninth grade or my first year of college; I was a freshwoman. I also like the neutral term "fresh," and, if one doesn't find this just as demeaning, "freshgirl."

Layman/Clergyman/etc.—No. Decent progressive people now say "clergyperson," "layperson," etc.

Master—This term seems to be gender-neutral enough, when not in reference to an actual man, but when calling something, say, "the master copy," "a masterpiece," or "the masterwork." Unless of course one is referring to the old-fashioned full term for the abbreviation Mr., or a man who is the dominant partner in a BDSM relationship!

Dominatrix—No problem with this word at all! Is there even a masculine equivalent besides the boring "dom"?

Née—I'm surprised this French word (which means "she was born") is now considered dated or pretentious by a number of people. I use it all of the time in my writing, as well as using "né" when referring to men who had a different name at birth. And unless the person changed one's entire name when becoming famous (e.g., Jane Alice Peters becoming Carole Lombard, Arthur Stanley Jefferson becoming Stan Laurel), I will use the née/né only in reference to the surname. I'm shocked and horrified that in the old days (and in some more old-fashioned sources even today), you'd often find stuff like "Elizabeth Martin, née Elizabeth Jones," or even "Mrs. John Oswald Smith, née Maria June Katz." What, doesn't she have a first name since getting married?

Mrs./Miss—I generally call all women Ms. unless I know they have a title (e.g., Dr., Rabbi, Minister, Sister) or are married and took their husband's name. I know many older women cherish what they call their "titles" and even feel offended if they're not addressed as Mrs. or called, say, Mrs. Frank Jones. And the term "Miss" just seems hideously outdated, following the sexist presumption that she'll eventually become a Mrs. I only use the term "Miss" now to refer to very young girls, like under the age of 12 or 13 or so. Besides, the great thing about the title Ms. is that it is always correct; it doesn't matter if the woman is married or single, if you don't know. Men have never had multiple titles to refer to themselves, the same way their identities have never rested on a history of romantic attachments.

Human/Woman/Women—I'm not that radical that I'm about to start writing "humyn" and "womyn," though I do stand in awe of those feminists who do do this.

Proctoress—Dated and silly.

The American Heritage® Book of English Usage on Sexist and Gendered Language