Q. I keep hearing people say things like “She was a woman pilot” and “We have a woman speaker tonight.” In my mind, this is completely incorrect—shouldn’t it be female, not woman? Since when did woman become an adjective? Am I crazy?
A. You’re not crazy. Please see CMOS 5.264:
When gender is relevant, it may be acceptable to use a gendered noun such as female or male as a modifier {the patient requested a female doctor} {the first female president}. . . . By contrast, because man is rarely used as a modifier, adjectival use of woman may unacceptably suggest that it’s peculiar or exceptional for a woman to be something {a woman astronaut will lead the expedition} or may sound dismissive or derogatory {the woman plumber successfully replaced the pipe}.