Does anyone happen to know? Idle curiosity about French

[Andrewofgg]

Until not so long ago a Minister, a mayor, and a judge in France all had to be male and were addressed as Monsieur le ministre, Monsieur le maire, or Monsieur le juge as the case might be.

Times have changed and now a woman mayor is Mme le maire, but a woman Minister is Mme la ministre.

Can anyone tell me whether a female judge is Mme le juge or Mme la juge?

And if anyone knows why mayors and ministers are different that would be a bonus!

[Gwenhwyfar]

Sorry, don't know. These things do change and vary from country to country as well. In Belgium a headteacher is called préfet/préfete and a woman will be addressed as Madame la Préfete, but a Belgian told me that in France it would be Madame le Préfet (though it doesn't refer to a headteacher in France). This might have changed by now though.

You will always be told that professeur has to be masculine so a woman is still "le" professeur, but in both France and Belgium I never heard school pupils/uni students refer to women teachers/lecturers as anything other than "la prof".

Have you tried Googling or looking at the Académie Française website?

[ClaudiaWankleman]

I believe you say either Madame le juge or Madame la juge. La juge is more modern I think.
There is a reasonably well known TV series called Le juge est une femme, suggesting it was something in people's minds during the 90s.

[floraldresser]

Le maire / mayor is a masculine word, yet minister is a feminine word