Plural of doorman; male attendants employed to open and close doors, greet visitors, or maintain security at an entrance.
From 'door' + 'man' (from Old English 'mann' meaning person or male human). This occupational term has been used since at least the 1500s for hired door attendants.
In New York City, doormen are practically celebrities in their buildings—long-time doormen often know more about their residents' secrets, scandals, and routines than anyone else, making them informal archivists of social history!
Generic masculine plural for building gatekeepers; erases women who performed identical roles. The default-male term reflects historical occupational segregation and exclusion of women from credentialed security work.
Use 'doorkeepers', 'building attendants', or 'entrance staff' instead to include all genders without erasure.
["door attendants","building staff","entrance personnel","doorkeepers"]
Women worked as building gatekeepers, security gatekeepers, and institutional threshold managers; their contributions were systemically credited to male counterparts or rendered invisible.
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