Do we need titles Miss/Ms/Mrs/Mr etc?

[NuffSaidSam]

Do we still need these? Does anyone know what the purpose is?

I've just been asked by the TV license people and it's made me wonder if it's necessary anymore (the title, not the TV license).

I think I'd be happy to go without.

Yes, if you want to prevent married women from having the option to use ‘Mrs’ then you are not respecting the different decisions women make. Nobody forced you to get married/be Mrs/change your surname/have children, so stop concerning yourself with what how other women choose to live their lives.

I agree - what’s the benefit of a woman being known as a Ms/Miss/Mrs - nothing

Well yes, if we actually could do that it would be great. But as comes up whenever this is discussed, lots of times there isn't an option to be 'nothing at all'. There's a general societal trend that way, but it's nowhere near a universal option. Computer says no, got to pick something.

Culturally, that would be far from fine in the UK. If a doctor called me into an appointment as Hellebores whilst expecting me to address them with the respect and courtesy of title, they would sing for their supper and I'd make a formal complaint.

If another human assumes they may use my first name, I expect it to be reciprocal. If not, Mrs Hellebores is perfectly sufficient.

You're making things up, I haven't said I want to ban 'Mrs'. I object to it on a societal level - why should women have to display their marital status when men don't. The inequality is the problem. If men had to use Master until they were married (and it had the same moral values and expectations) then I wouldn't care.

And by the way, your education is admirable and is by far the thing you should be most proud of. Thank goodness for feminists who paved the way to allow you to be highly educated, eh.

OK. That is definitely completely different to what you said in your earlier post!!

I actively rail against Mrs as I'm called it based on presumption from others. I'm a Ms thank you very much. My identity is not based on if I'm married or not.

I hate that I can't do any damn firm without having to tell them I'm divorced. Why does this matter?

On a paper form I ignore the section but as the vast majority are now online, you can’t get past the section although if there is a box for ‘other’ I use that one.

Oh the doctor doesn't expect you to use their title either, its only really used formally, the doctor calls you by your last name and introduces themselves by their last name (sometimes first name).
Titles like Mr and Mrs used to be used here but culture can change, as it did here, so there's no reason Brits can't adapt to being called by their last name without a few letters in front of it.

I would say the culture is changing here, but it's a slow process.

I'd be perfectly happy if we adopted first names for all. It's the mixed economy of respect for some and not for others that I find unacceptable. The Quakers have the right idea imo although my recollection is that they use first name and last name.

Interesting how those who would prefer no title are calm and measured in their posts and others who are all for being Mrs as if it is a badge of honour are writing reams of words about why it's the best thing in the whole wide world..

Retired TA so actually more likely to be called Miss or Miiiiiiiiis by students.

If you ignore that section on the paper form, at work, I'll default you as Ms (if you are female) as our system will not accept a missing title.

Titles are useful for when we write out to people as Mr A Smith means that it's going to the male person in the house with the name starting with A, but doesn't tell the world that Adrian Smith lives at that house (and any confidential issues that can arise with that, such as violent ex partners).

And strawmanning about title bans.

First names for all, or full names for all, or last names for all (or as it goes here, start with last names, then proceed to first names as you gain familiarity) is good. Agree that its not right if you have to refer to some people with a title but they don't to you, everyone should be treated equally in this respect.

A small number of people fall into the category you have mentioned but in the meantime everyone else is stuck with an antiquated sexist system. Definitely time for change!

Do you have issues in your system where one party sticks at last name but expects to use the other party's first name. It's all about equality as far as I am concerned.

I really do think they are unnecessary. There are hardly any situations anymore where people use them to talk to each other. School and court are two of the only places and frankly that is outdated. In almost all other workplaces first names are used throughout, even with CEOs and the like. On forms etc I think they should be an optional field. If people want to be called Mrs Surname fine, if you don't fill it in you are indicating you're happy to be referred to by your first name. But most forms have it as a required field.

What happens if there is a Mr Alex Smith and a Mr Arthur Smith at the same address? If a letter arrives for Mr A Smith, how do they know which one it's for?

I find the whole idea of titles ridiculous and outdated. I've used Ms for years, yet as DP and I aren't married, people assume Miss. If we must keep them it should be Ms, Mr and Mx. Rev, Prof, Dr etc are neutral so for professional reasons that would be ok but Lord/Lady etc no
Also, what about surgeons whose titles revert to Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs etc. Would it not be best to stay as Dr?

I've never experienced that at least, only that some people just use last names when there's for instance more than one person with the same first name so use the last name to distinguish them. But someone wanting to be addressed by their last name while addressing others as their first name sounds like something maybe a really old fashioned boss in a big company might do but I don't know if it actually happens, though actually it makes more sense to me that it would be the other way round, the boss addresses the workers by their last name to show that he or she is at a distance from them and not on a friend level (but this has never been the case in any company I've worked in, its all been very equal, my current boss is often called by a nickname in fact so even less formality)

School's a funny one. DD is Miss Hellebores to her pupils; DS, whose title is Dr, is John to his students. Children -v- adults?

With schools here teachers are called by their first names or nicknames, same as children, another case of making things more equal and on a more familiar basis.