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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

School telling me what title I should use

296 replies

mumofone1234 · 24/11/2016 21:06

My child started a new school in September. A few weeks into the new term I received an email from the school saying that they would like to change the title they have for me on their records from 'Ms' to 'Mrs' and if I am not happy with this then to reply to the email. I replied saying I would like to keep 'Ms' thank you very much. All has been fine since then. All communication has said 'Ms'.
.
Today I get a letter addressed to 'Mrs Mumofone1234'? AIBU to wonder why on earth they care what title I assign myself? Is this a stealth way of finding out the marital status of parents? (It is a hard to get into school that goes off church attendance).

OP posts:
HermioneWeasley · 26/11/2016 09:16

Wombat, when nearly 100% of women do something and almost no men do it's unlikely to be as a result of unfettered free choice

IAmAmy · 26/11/2016 09:32

Thank you EBearhug!

WomanWithAltitude I suppose it's easy for us to say now but given how many women get pressured into changing their surnames, told "oh come on we should all have the same name you might as well" etc the reality may be some of us do. I hope not...

Maireadplastic · 26/11/2016 09:44

I use both my 'maiden' name (I am a performer and conductor, it is more straightforward to have one name during one's working life) and my husband's surname. I am not particularly attached to my original surname as I look upon it as my father's surname. My first name and the achievements of my professional and family life are far more important to me.

If anything, I would have liked to have taken my mother's 'maiden' name (I have far more loyalty to her and her family- and my parents are still together!) and stuck with that.

EBearhug · 26/11/2016 09:45

To the poster questioning why a woman would sign her name of (e.g.) Dolly Parton (Mrs), I think it's pretty useful. I wish men would do it too. I often get emails, with (to me) foreign names so from Lotem Smith. (Totally random and made up!) and I have no idea if it's even from a man or a woman, so when replying, I can't just say Dear Smith. It would help to know at least how they would be addressed, so especially if the 1st name could be for either sex, like Sam, or not widely known, including the title would be very helpful.

Why do you need to know? I can see if you're dealing with patients at the GP you need to know if they go on th list for reminders for mammograms or prostate e

EBearhug · 26/11/2016 09:47

...prostate exam reminders, but for most things, you should be treating people the same whether thy are male or female, so the only reason for knowing is just natural curiosity.

EBearhug · 26/11/2016 09:48

And marketing, which can be very gendered. This is the real reason many online forms insist you must include a title.

Meluzyna · 26/11/2016 10:09

Interesting discussion - (waves to Bearhug... )
I have been debating this very question with a group of 16-17 year old girls (after reading an article about the situation in Japan where the law forces couples to use the same name... and in 96% of cases it's the man's) and they all to my suprise said they would be taking their husbands' surname upon marriage. I was gobsmacked.
I am Mrs / Mme Maidenname.... and have been for 30 years. About 28 years ago, when I was a student, I was with another married friend and an older woman tried to "chivvy us up" using the title "Mademoiselles". I turned to her and said "it's Mesdames, actually" as there was a definite put down in her choice of the unmarried form. Maybe there's a different feeling about this in France.
Incidentally, the girlies who insist they will change their names are in for a shock because although married women use their husband's names your name never actually changes in France- all official documents continue to use your "Patronymic" name (the one you got from your Dad when you were born) just with "spouse of" tacked on - but it is inherently sexist as a man's paperwork doesn't say "spouse of Wifesname".
There is no such thing as deed poll here and changing a name is complicated, expensive and involves a court judgement!

ErnesttheBavarian · 26/11/2016 11:07

Not just natural curiosity. These people are parents. I would prefer to know if I am being contacted by, and replying to a child's mother or father. If I then meet them in person, it would be useful to know if I have had direct communication with them about their child. Often I get an email asking a Q about a their child, but they don't state their relationship. IT's important, not just nosiness.

So then instead of a quick reply I have to go personally to the records office, or send an email, hope they have time to reply soon etc.Just easier to be clearer with who you are in the 1st place, inc name and title surely, if it is relevant.

woodsies1975 · 26/11/2016 11:09

Right - my guess is that they have changed it on their MIS but one I have used, Integris, there is a separate "salutation" field which for one reason or another doesn't pick up whatever you have chosen from the dropdown list of titles. You have to remember to go in and change it in the salutation box.
Rather than conspiracy theories, it could be as straightforward as that.

WomanWithAltitude · 26/11/2016 11:11

None of these explanations explains the initial email telling the op that they wanted to change her title to Mrs and would do so unless she told them otherwise.

WomanWithAltitude · 26/11/2016 11:13

I assume they originally had her down as Ms because that's what she had filled in on a registration form of some kind. To contact all the women listed as Ms and inform them that you are not happy with their chosen title and planot to change it on your system is downright rude.

WomanWithAltitude · 26/11/2016 11:13

^ plan to not planot

EBearhug · 26/11/2016 12:36

These people are parents. I would prefer to know if I am being contacted by, and replying to a child's mother or father.

But it's the parental relationship which is important - and that being so, it should be represented in the database as "father to Jack and Ella Smith" or "mother to Holly Jones" or whatever. Parents may not share the same surname as their child, and the title they choose to use tells you nothing, because they could legitimately be in the database as "Dr Sam Brown" - they may be a parent to one of the three lots of Brown siblings in the school, but unless you specify the relationship, you won't know which ones, and knowing if it's the male or female parent isn't as important until you've established which child they're connected to.

user1479647272 · 26/11/2016 13:42

It could be worse - they could be a bunch of leftard cultural marxists and your your first name without even asking permision.

WomanWithAltitude · 26/11/2016 15:05

What exactly does 'leftard' mean?

Lorelei76 · 26/11/2016 15:27

"I cannot believe there is still a significant number of women who are completely unable to understand the underlying, deeply disturbing,societal issues that underpin the use of Miss/Mrs/Ms."

lost track of who said this, but yes.

worse than that, I think some do see the logic but they are so excited to have titles advertising married or not that they want to keep it that way.

I feel I've gone full circle lately. When I was a teen I used to think women were their own worst enemy...I sort of let go of that but being on MN has made me think it again.

there must be a birds of a feather thing though, because I don't attract the sort of friend who would get upset if she was addressed as Ms.

ChocolateWombat · 26/11/2016 21:58

The thing about the deeply disturbing societal issues surrounding people calling themselves Mrs or whatever, are simply not deeply disturbing to large numbers of people.

Some people have opted to be Mrs, because they have never considered the background to why women take their husbands name. They haven't considered this, in the same way that they haven't thought deeply about socialism or liberalism or a variety of other things which actually do explain how we are where we are today. They just aren't very interested.
Other people have thought through these issues and understand them and still choose to become Mrs. It is actually possible to do that and not a sign of total stupidity or ignorance.
Other people have thought through the issues and chosen not to become Mrs. That too is fine. However, when the self-labelled enlightened, paint everyone else as totally ignorant, I see arrogance and a lack of empathy rather than enlightenment.

Without doubt, the fact women had no choice but to take their husbands name and lose their own, was part of society not seeing women as equal. Much of our history has roots in subjugation of different groups of people and very different values to those we have now. When we look at the past, we do need to see it in context and recognise that things in the past were different...no doubt people will find many things we do and values we have odd or wrong, in the future. Society today is a product of the past and we move forward unevenly, even in big areas of change. Yes, changes in social attitudes are probably slower than we might imagine, or even hope. We are not so far from the times when women themselves considered themselves men's property or when most accepted unquestioningly that the only option was to become Mrs with the man's name, that connections to those ideas and even enjoyment of them has gone. It will take longer and it maybe that for many many many years to come, the majority of married women will still choose to be Mrs. Yes there might be deep seated values within society that drive them in that direction......but aren't all of our actions really driven by such widely accepted understandings of values.

Anyway, as I said ages ago, I think the school poorly worded their communication with OP about her title. I do not imagine they intended offence at all, but whoever wrote the email simply wasn't hugely articulate. I suspect it was an admin issue of the school programme not accepting the title chosen, or needing spbespoke entering that they hoped to avoid. So yes, it was poorly worded (but so are lots of communications) and yes, the fact OP said she still wanted to be Ms should have been logged, but somehow wasn't. She can inform them again and make clear she feels strongly about it. If she wants, she can enquire as to why they asked her to change. If she wants, she can tell them that she found the request inappropriate and why. Perhaps they will then re-word it or simply not send the request in future. Job done.

BantyCustards · 27/11/2016 09:21

You can see arrogance but that doesn't mean it's there.

Dawndonnaagain · 27/11/2016 14:12

leftard It would be very much appreciated if you didn't use any word with ''tard* suffix. Thank you. Angry

ChocolateWombat · 27/11/2016 15:00

Banty, I'd be happy if you elaborated.

I have tried to explain rather than just state the way I see things. If I just state, I can't expect people to understand what my thinking is behind my point, which is why my posits are often quite lengthy.

It maybe that I'd agree with you - but I won't know that unless you explain what you mean. Thanks.

Featherybum · 27/11/2016 21:57

Interested to see this OP as I also had a parent mail (presumably via the school office) wanting to change my title too (from Dr to Mrs). It had a reject option, I clicked that so parent mail still calls me Dr, but I was wondering about this. I don't usually bother using Dr but did on the school applications etc and kept it in this instance as I didn't like them trying to change it without asking me first. So v interesting th a you had it with Ms too.

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