“man” used to mean person, it was gender neutral. In fact the root “men” just meant “to think”, so a man could be any sapient being.
It was only changed several hundred years ago. “mankind” and other similar universals were meant to represent every human and became exclusionary only under patriarchal interpretation. “mankind” of course endures as universal, but we see lots of “firewoman”, “mailwoman”, etc., where the language becomes fundamentally gendered.
“man” used to mean person, it was gender neutral. In fact the root “men” just meant “to think”, so a man could be any sapient being.
It was only changed several hundred years ago. “mankind” and other similar universals were meant to represent every human and became exclusionary only under patriarchal interpretation. “mankind” of course endures as universal, but we see lots of “firewoman”, “mailwoman”, etc., where the language becomes fundamentally gendered.