AIBU to think that titles are old fashioned and should be scrappped?

[axure]

A thread has drawn attention to the fact that Driving Licences include Miss/Ms/Mrs for women, but no Mr for men. Do you think that titles are outdated and should be scrapped?

Personally I like being called Mrs X/Madam as appropriate, is this old fashioned?

Is it wrong that there is no title to denote a single/divorced man?

Do you still use Master for young boys, at what age do they become Mr?

Maybe you don't give a flying **either way, with far more pressing issues to worry about.

I dislike being called Ms Graham but like Miss or Mrs Graham even less - won't my first name do? And for those who don't want to be addressed so familiarly all we need to do is ditch the Mrs/Miss and have a carch-all Ms just as men have a catch-all Mr.

NB In my DC's school, just as it was in my own, all male teachers are Mr X or Sir, all female teachers are Mrs/Miss/Ms Y according to their individual preference, the exception being those with doctorates etc. There is no way that "Miss" alone would be considered an acceptable way to address a teacher and if a Mrs Smith were to be addressed as Miss or Ms Smith the child is quickly corrected.

Mrs Jay- I don't get it. Why were you upset with her?
If Ms were to denote "female but does not want to disclose marital status" we would all be happier.
I use Ms even though i'm married.
X in a shop and Y at the bank don't need to know my marital status.

And yes I used "Ms" when I wasn't married as well.

Ms does denote "female but my marital status is none of your business"

In most cases where I put down a title my gender is none of your business either.

Not really answering the question but teachers are Sir or Ma'am at my Son's school.

It's not that difficult to find out someone's preference and then use it.

But I've found it's not worth battling 'Ms' with aged aunts (literal or metaphorical ones).

I don't like King, Queen, Prince, Princess, Baron, Baroness, Count, Countess, Lord, Lady, Mayor or Sir - I think they contain far more connotations than Mr or Mrs

People don't tend to use titles (other than professional ones) in my line of work. I much prefer it that way.

On forms etc I try not to use a title - it annoys me. Neither does dp. I'm Ms if I have to choose, though.

When I worked as a barmaid / waitress we were expected to call customers "Sir" or "Madam".

Hated that.

Well it's only social conditioning that makes it seem as if calling someone by their first name is rude. So do away with that and titles aren't necessary. It also immediately puts everyone on a much more even keel and equal basis.

I'm married but kept my name. I'm therefore not Miss Roxy nor Mrs Roxy. So I use Ms.

Apart from Achica.com which addresses all my parcels to Dr Roxy for some reason, I don't remember selecting a title so no idea where they got Dr from!

I don't know why all women over 18 can't be known by the same title like Mister for men and Master if they're under 18.

'I object to the fact male teaches are referred to as "Sir" (power and authority, anyone?) whilst female teachers as "Miss" (like a little girl).'

• it's all about stereotyping though. Do we look at Miss and expect the person described to be like a little girl? As for 'Sir' - first thing that pops into my head is how the Famous Five always used to shout at the dog, 'Timmy! Sit down, sir!'

I have a unisex name and I resist saying Mrs or Miss, but lots of form fillers insist...I say put what you like and get post for rev .

In Sweden everyone is known by their first name, it's no biggie, and no need to announce whethere you're married or even what gender you are at every opportunity!

I'd never thought about the Sir/ Miss thing in schools though, and me a teach and all

In fairness the sir/miss thing wad a theme from my dissertation on gender stereotyping in schools, and how schools should strive to eliminate gender power differences... It is not something I lie awake fretting about

Quakers have been for centuries arguing that titles should be dropped as, if we view each other without preconceptions we might communicate better and benefit from assumption free introductions.

my bank refuses to allow me to hold a title free account, despite being originally a quaker bank.

We referred to our teachers as sir and ma'am. Pretty sure ds does too

I would far prefer if we all were on first name terms and I don't like being called Ms., Miss, or Mrs. Anything. When I have to use a title, I've used Ms. since I was a teenager, as I don't like the whole marital status aspects of Miss and Mrs. I used to be a primary teacher and I would have loved it if the kids had been allowed to call me by my first name (this is only acceptable in a few schools and nearly everyone I know would hate it).

Even when I was a child, I was brought up on first name terms with most adults. The only adults I called Mr. and Mrs. were my friends' grandparents and my granny's friends! On very formal occasions, we addressed our teachers by their titles and surnames, but most of the time in my schools, they were fine with being called "Teacher" in primary school and "Sir", "Sister" or "Miss" at secondary.

I think everyone thinks my title and name are so important to me and that's why I kept them when I married, but the truth is I didn't change because it wasn't important to me. Why go to all the hassle of changing something you use as little as possible anyway? That's how I look at it!

According to Dale Spender's book 'man made language' historically 'miss' meant young women whilst 'mrs' meant old woman. It had nothing to do with marital status.

So, originally in English, Mrs. was equivalent to Frau?

When I was single I was a Miss because I wasn't married - it was a statement of fact. When I got married I became a Mrs - again it is a statement of fact. I don't understand the problem. Waits with bated breath for June honours list to see if I can be something else for marrying dh .

I had a lovely Great Aunt - a real old- fashioned spinster ( though she did sometimes allude coyly to shenanigans with officers During The War). She was known to all outside immediate family as "Miss X" and I always liked how it sounded- it never struck me as not grown up or respectful. Perhaps in her honour I always insist on "Miss" rather than Ms. But then when I was single it was always a good idea to get the message out there I also used to find it a bit depressing when salespeople etc would assume I must be "Mrs" just because of my age. As I now have a DP who is a keeper that doesn't bother me so much any more....

Mostly I don't see the point of titles (and I hate being called Miss or Mrs, it's Ms thanks, since my marital status is irrelevant).

However - we do need something we can call people when we are not sure of their first name or when they are old fashioned and think that first names is too informal. I can't really imagine addressing a letter to "Dear Surname" without any title.

Maybe we need a unisex title? Mx perhaps?

Azure - both Mrs and Miss are abbreviations of Mistress, which was the female form of Master. This was also a contraction of Maister - think of Mayor of Casterbridge, and the latin Magister, and the French Maitre - title given to male French primary school teachers/heads, and solicitors.