She Is Not A Chair

I know the meanings of certain words change as time goes on. There are reasons for these changes. They are influenced by political climate, culture change and change of values. Some view certain words as racist, sexist, insensitive or intolerant. One example of a word change is the word "gay," it used to mean happy. I guess it still means happy but the new meaning has all but eliminated the old meaning. I grew up hearing the use of the word "actress." No more. Anyone who acts on stage or screen these days is an "actor" regardless of gender. I checked an old dictionary regarding the word "chair." One of the meanings of the word is a chairman or presiding officer. Nevertheless, throughout the years it was not commonly used that way. When I address the "chair," am I addressing the person or the position. Take your pick. Like "actor," chairman does not differentiate between a man and a woman. "She is the chairman" is perfectly fine. It does not violate any structure of official codified meaning. It violates some social norm, even though "actor" doesn't. Incidently, "chairwoman" is an old dictionary term. She may be the chair, but she is not a chair. But wait, what if there is a meeting of all of the "chairs" of all the committees in one room. The one presiding over the meeting is the "chair."
I stand corrected. She is a chair, presiding over chairs.