Susan,

To be frank, I see the dichotomy as sexist!

I've not encountered "man midwife". It sounds poorly in my ear, but I'll ask my wife about it -- she's a physician :o)

I hadn't meant to limit "male" or "female" to Being only adjectives, as I was focused on the use of "man" and "woman". However, I've never thought the application of "male" or "female" in any way to be rude, nor encountered a situation in which it appeared to be taken so, but perhaps that's simpy my own limited experience, or a cultural difference across the pond, but the Shorter OED appears to indicate that use with reference to persons comes from Middle English...from which I infer some pretty old usage.

But the fun of it lies in the fact that our very disagreement points up just how hard it is to nail down, in a definitive way, precisely what terms mean or how they are to be used. Ever-shifting landscape there!

Cheers - Howie