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 Do you think that titles are outdated and should be scrapped?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.

For the record, Ms makes my skin crawl because it is a statement about not declaring one's marital status. I resent being made to decide between an array of crappy options. DH doesn't have to. (He could use Dr but doesn't, mostly because male titles aren't a bloody minefield like female ones. He did get very jealous when he saw that my bank card says 'Dr Damsel I Disgrace' though).

Also for the record: I am chippy.

I am not a medical Dr. I don't expect my students to use my title. They all refer to me as Damsel. I only use the bloody thing for filling in forms (I don't want people to call me it).

My mother (married) uses Lady X and Miss Maiden Name. I now check the box for 'other' and fill in Mme....

I think it's no one's business if I'm married or not, so I use Ms as a point of principle. If I'm ordering an ink cartridge online, why do they need to know if I'm male or female, far less whether I'm married?

Our mortgage is with HSBC. First organisation we've dealt with who refer to us as "Mrs Red and Mr Red." Not sure if it's because I submitted the application, or because my first name comes first in the alphabet, but each time they send us a statement, I think it's very refreshing that they don't automatically go for the "Mr and Mrs" option

We used to bank with HSBC, they put my name first too as I was first applicant for the account. Our current bank put DH first.

i dont understand why people get so annoyed about the title issue. It is just out of politeness that people use it in the first place and unfortunately so they are not being rude by giving you what is the correct title for your circumstance and of course English not having gender for many verbs leads the occasional problem eg. Sir/Miss.

Ms. Just seems over the top. I know many doctors who keep their professional name as their maiden name once married, saves on confusion and paperwork and thankfully when they turn up for hotels these days they don't find often twin beds when it was reserved as a double for Dr Smith and Mr Jones.

I'm Ms and was Ms before I was married too. Increasingly, 'Ms' seems to be standard in HE institutions (maybe to do with dealing with students, who're mostly young?). So I'd have to opt out of being called 'Ms' if I wanted to, and blokes would have to opt out of being 'Mr'.

I get called Miss/Mrs by people who're trying to be polite and only know my surname, and I take it the way it's intended, but I say what I prefer if people ask.

I wouldn't mind there being no titles but since they're used, once I get my PhD I will so be using that!

We need a new title system.

I've been "Ms" since I was old enough to realise the unfairness even though I am now married but I think it does scream "feminist statement" when you correct people and it shouldn't.

I really can't believe people in this day and age look down on others for being single/unmarried. I wasn't aware that having a day out in a big dress made you somehow superior.

married in white

I am unmarried and use Ms in civvy life, Dr at work.

DP and I are getting married in August. And I will use...... Ms in civvy life, Dr at work.

Though my colleague did tell me recently to call myself 'Dr' when making hospital appointments; apparently that way, they don't treat you like such a moron. I have always felt rather wankerish using Dr in a medical context but may try it!

Ah, you're not fooling anyone RP.

You're just burning with a sense of as-yet-unmarried inferiority, aren't you?

ha! you'd be getting a bum deal with my thesis, I tell ya.

I also have this bridge I can sell you........

I'd love to respond you'd be getting a bum deal with my husband, but I can't help feeling that Friday night or no, we don't quite know each other well enough for such innuendo.

So, this bridge, you say?

I use Ms. I get married in 3 weeks and will continue to me a Ms. Mrs makes me shudder!

I don't mind people calling me by my first name, but that's because my last name is hideous to pronounce. IF I take OHs last name I will henceforth be known as Ms OHname and will be snotty about it.

How did we get from Miss and Mrs to bumsex I should never have planted that pampas grass.

Yes, it's lovely, right in the middle of Brooklyn.

I apologize, it was entirely my fault.

MN has given me the perfect answer to any "don't you think it's a bit poncey calling yourself Dr" twats.

Dr and Mrs are both titles that you acquire by doing something, you are not born with either. Why is it more poncey to say "I have a PhD" than it is to say "I have a husband"? Is one more worthy of a title-change than the other?

Oh and none of you can have my thesis. It was fucking hard work and I am bloody keeping it. Even if I don't remember precisely what is in it

Fewer women with PhDs use their titles than men with PhDs. Another good reason IMO.

Cripes, rilly LRD?

If I had a PhD I'd be Dr Marr to bloody EVERYONE. Including my late mother. And my 11yo son.

Can we have dinner now please Mum?

That'll be Dr Mum thank you

I am Dr Trills in all and any place where a title is required.

I even got my CAMRA card changed. (but that might be because Dr T Astra is easier to lend to people than Ms T Astra if they want to use my card to get into places)

If women are Miss when unmarried and Mrs when married, then men should be Master until they're married, and only become Mr if they marry.

To be fair I do have an almighty chip on my shoulder about how sparse my qualifications are.

People who are really clever and are professors and whatnot probably don't feel the need to embellish their names at all.

If I had a chip on my shoulder I would dunk it in mayonnaise and eat it.

'That'll be Dr Mum thank you'.

Genius.