Author Topic: Some thing to ponder  (Read 5649 times)

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Offline HDAngel

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Some thing to ponder
« on: April 02, 2009, 06:59:31 AM »
Why is it when formally addressing a male, we call him Mr. but when formally addressing a female we can call her Miss, Mrs. or Ms. which ever "She chooses" to be addressed as?
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Offline smokester

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2009, 10:35:43 AM »
I prefer to be called "Master".
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

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Offline Skadi

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2009, 11:03:51 AM »
I prefer to be called "Master".

I prefer to be called Mistress.. That always settles the dilemma nice and firmly :)

Offline Robin-Graves

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2009, 06:01:45 PM »
I just want to be God.
I keep my standards low.
That way im never disapointed.

Offline tarascon

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2013, 05:31:12 AM »
Estragon: I can't go on like this.
Vladimir: That's what you think.

Offline Autumn

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2013, 05:53:35 AM »
I prefer to be called "Master".

 :-X  ;)

Offline Mauve

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2013, 01:01:03 PM »
If I remember right, "Mrs." is an abbreviation for Mistress. Some say it's more like "Mr.'s" but I'm pretty sure it's actually mistress, though I could be wrong ^^. Don't be afraid to double check me~
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Offline mishca09

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2013, 01:09:39 PM »
^^ that does make sense.

Offline dweez

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2013, 01:36:11 PM »
"Mrs." is the title for a married woman, "Miss" for an unmarried woman, "Ms." for a divorced woman (maybe a widow too but I think there's something else for that).
--dweez

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2013, 01:47:26 PM »
Ms. (American) is an abbreviation for Miz, an invention by feminists in the 1970's who felt it was sexist to have only one title for men regardless of their marital status while women's formal titles announced theirs. 

This was in reaction to the former state of affairs where titles such as Miss (equivalent to Fraulein/Mademoiselle, indicating a presumably virginal/unmarried woman) or Mrs (Mistress of a house, thereby married and sexually active) were regarded as titles that valued women solely on the basis of their reproductive/sexual functions and denigrated their place as fully participating members of society regardless of gender.  It was also a way of broadcasting something about one's private life that men did not have to share. "Mr." doesn't tell you anything about whether a man is sexually active, married, or whatever.  It simply conveys gender.

In Europe, at least in German speaking countries, there is no equivalent to Ms.  Instead, women elected to eliminate the term Fraulein.  All women, thenceforth, would be known simply as Frau (woman) whether married or not.  I'm pretty sure it's the same in France and Spain.

Offline Mauve

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2013, 01:52:50 PM »
^That's what I was thinkin'
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Offline smokester

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2013, 03:32:53 PM »
Ms. (American) is an abbreviation for Miz, an invention by feminists in the 1970's who felt it was sexist to have only one title for men regardless of their marital status while women's formal titles announced theirs. 

This was in reaction to the former state of affairs where titles such as Miss (equivalent to Fraulein/Mademoiselle, indicating a presumably virginal/unmarried woman) or Mrs (Mistress of a house, thereby married and sexually active) were regarded as titles that valued women solely on the basis of their reproductive/sexual functions and denigrated their place as fully participating members of society regardless of gender.  It was also a way of broadcasting something about one's private life that men did not have to share. "Mr." doesn't tell you anything about whether a man is sexually active, married, or whatever.  It simply conveys gender.

In Europe, at least in German speaking countries, there is no equivalent to Ms.  Instead, women elected to eliminate the term Fraulein.  All women, thenceforth, would be known simply as Frau (woman) whether married or not.  I'm pretty sure it's the same in France and Spain.

The unmarried french women I know I call Mademoiselle, and the married I address as Madame. This is what they themselves have taught me and was part of their civilité. However, I believe recently there was a change in France that officially replaced Mademoiselle with Madame on forms etc, regardless of marital status, so it matched the male equivalent of Monsieur.
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

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Offline xtopave

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2013, 04:51:08 PM »
In Europe, at least in German speaking countries, there is no equivalent to Ms.  Instead, women elected to eliminate the term Fraulein.  All women, thenceforth, would be known simply as Frau (woman) whether married or not.  I'm pretty sure it's the same in France and Spain.

In Spain and Spanish speaking American countries there are Señora and Señorita and they're used regularly. Furthermore, it'd be awkward to address a 20-25 yrs old woman as "Señora".

Offline bubu

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #13 on: May 25, 2013, 10:45:41 AM »
In Italy we had Signora and Signorina some years ago. Now as some other countries we use Signora for every woman, abbreviation Sig.ra

Offline 6pairsofshoes

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #14 on: May 25, 2013, 11:43:35 AM »
It was quite common in the U.S. for people to address adult women, even elderly ones, as "girls" until recently.  I remember people wearing teeshirts that said "Don't call me girl" in reaction to this juvenilization of women.  The same verbal tactic was used against other populations, like African American men who were referred to as "boy" by whites as a means of subjugation.

What's funny about this is that now young women call themselves girls as if they are oblivious to this earlier struggle to get the term "woman" established when referring to adult females.  It's clearly a generational thing.

Offline smokester

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2013, 02:39:36 PM »
It was quite common in the U.S. for people to address adult women, even elderly ones, as "girls" until recently.  I remember people wearing teeshirts that said "Don't call me girl" in reaction to this juvenilization of women.  The same verbal tactic was used against other populations, like African American men who were referred to as "boy" by whites as a means of subjugation.

What's funny about this is that now young women call themselves girls as if they are oblivious to this earlier struggle to get the term "woman" established when referring to adult females.  It's clearly a generational thing.

I call my male friends from London "my boys", which I think is akin to the American term "homeboys".
Don't put off until tomorrow, what you can put off until the day after.

There is an exception to every rule, apart from this one.

Offline tarascon

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Re: Some thing to ponder
« Reply #16 on: May 26, 2013, 08:36:31 AM »
Here in the survivalist compound I run, we go by Morlocks and Eloi.
Estragon: I can't go on like this.
Vladimir: That's what you think.