Irony: Jill Abramson, who today became the first woman to serve as the executive editor of the New York Times in the paper’s entire 160-year history, wrote a piece for the New York Times back in 2006 titled, “When Will We Stop Saying ‘First Woman to _____’?“
For what it’s worth, I, too, long for the day when “First Woman To ____” is no longer notable. But for now, in many cases, it still is a big deal.