I have recently noticed this being used on the radio/TV and it's really grating as it is surely grammatically incorrect? Is it one of those sinister shifts in language?
For example when discussing the Labour leadership contest, people have started saying "should we have a woman leader?" rather than "should we have a female leader?". Or they talk about a "woman MP" instead of a "female MP". Or "there are too few women MPs" instead of "female MPs".
No one would ever say a "man MP" or a "man leader" would they?
Am I being paranoid, and if not, why have people started doing this?