Comments on: Call me madame

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 16 May 2006 14:40:57 +0000

“I don’t think the Ms vs Miss/Mrs debate is equivalent to debates on other forms of address. Whilst I understand the importance of addressing people as they choose(more than many others, as I have a name with not obvious pronunciation), I do believe that Miss/Mrs is one of the many subtle structural aspects of society which serves to lower the standing of women whether they inidividually realise it or not. ”

It is exactly equivalent. You are entitled to your belief that a woman chosing to be addressed as “Miss” or “Mrs” “serves to lower the standing of women”. You may even be right, although I think it’s unlikely. The point is that you get to choose for you, but you don’t get to choose for anyone else.

By: Ruby

Ruby — Fri, 12 May 2006 09:11:24 +0000

As far as I have experienced in France (and Spain) you become Madame/Senora on the basis of age and not necessarily whether you are married or not.

In this country, people seem to have started using “Ms” to mean “divorced”. It’s really annoying and the opposite of what the word was supposed to give women - freedom from basing their title on their relationship to a man.

By: C4

C4 — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:44:43 +0000

Who cares? Call people what those people want to be called out of good manners and respect.

By: Leila

Leila — Thu, 20 Apr 2006 22:23:23 +0000

I too think Ms is the ideal default, it’s a neutral term that puts women on a par with men in terms of how they are addressed. It’s a particularly sad reflection of how women see themselves that many object to the term Ms and would seemingly much rather be pigeonholed as a spinster or a housewife. I don’t think the Ms vs Miss/Mrs debate is equivalent to debates on other forms of address. Whilst I understand the importance of addressing people as they choose(more than many others, as I have a name with not obvious pronunciation), I do believe that Miss/Mrs is one of the many subtle structural aspects of society which serves to lower the standing of women whether they inidividually realise it or not. In other words it’s really about the dignity of a group rather than that of any one individual within that group. And it’s always a bit shocking these days when people can’t deal with simple things like Ms&Ms, or even Mr&Ms.

By: Paul Burgin

Paul Burgin — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 08:15:33 +0000

Ah yes, I heard he could be a difficult person

By: Tim Roll-Pickering

Tim Roll-Pickering — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 16:32:28 +0000

Sir Archibald Hamilton

By: Paul Burgin

Paul Burgin — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 14:13:14 +0000

Who was the MP, just out of curiosity!

By: Tim Roll-Pickering

Tim Roll-Pickering — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 12:24:01 +0000

I got one better - a card! But I still thought little of the local MP. He stood down at the next election.

By: Paul Burgin

Paul Burgin — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 09:13:19 +0000

Oh thats awful!
I got a letter from my local Conservative MP when I was eighteen, I just thought “I’m not a Tory!”

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 03:05:22 +0000

On the subject of titles, I recall that when I turned 18, I received a “now you can vote for me” letter from our local Lib Dem parliamentary candidate. Unfortunately, she chose to address it “Dear Sam”, and her presumtuous familiarity ensured that I never even considered voting for her.