A woman whose job is to sell products or services to customers.
Compound of sales (plural of sale, from Old Norse sala) and woman (Old English wifman). The term emerged in the 20th century as women entered retail work.
The existence of separate words like 'saleswoman' versus 'salesman' shows how language tracks gender roles in society—and as those roles changed, many people started preferring 'salesperson' instead, which is a case of language actually catching up to social change.
The gendered form 'saleswoman' emerged in early-mid 20th century as women entered retail; it marks women as exceptions to the unmarked 'salesman,' implying male as default.
Use gender-neutral 'salesperson' or 'sales representative' unless historical gender context is directly relevant. If gendering is necessary, use parallel forms: 'saleswoman/salesman' or omit gender entirely.
["salesperson","sales representative","sales associate"]
Women sales workers achieved high productivity and loyalty rates yet were systematically excluded from management paths and credited to male supervisors.
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