Monday, June 1, 2009

Miss, Mrs, Ms....and Mr

I've never really had a problem being referred to as Miss. I've been referred to as Ma'am as a 28 year old woman and even when I was much younger. I wasn't bothered then either.

Many feminist seem to push for Ms. There is even a feminist magazine entitled Ms that seems to convey the idea that being shoved into either of two categories, Miss or Mrs is oppressive. I learned however that Ms was used in the 1700s as an abbreviation for the then formal title "Mistress" which was used for all women of matrital status. The term was revived later when it was deemed more convenient to writers of business letters.

I hadn't given a whole lot of thought to this until I realized that men are always, Mr. no matter what their age or marital status. It makes sense to question why a woman's status would require a different title.

I don't ever plan on becoming a Mrs. even if I do marry. I've mentioned in propr blogs that the only reason I would legalize my partnership would be to gain the legal benefits.

The bottom line is that I do not think that it is necessary to assign a preface of Miss, Mrs, Ms, or Mr. Why not address each other by our names? What a concept ay?

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