To ask why actresses are now referred to as actors

[SylvieHortensis]

I know it's been going on for a while but when did it start and why?

What's wrong with a woman being called an actress?

If we want a gender neutral word, why not call men actresses too?

I sometimes get impression that some feminists only want sex differences acknowledged that seem to put females at disadvantage so they can use the alleged difference in a campaigning programme.

Yes that’s all feminists want- to be treated like fucking princesses when it suits them.

For god’s sake

There is no gender in there term Actor
Or Manager
They were perceived as lesser versions. Like cigar/ cigarette.
I was a manager at 19 in 1981 and insisted on being called Manager not manageress.

It's just considered a bit old-fashioned. We don't use authoress or poetess anymore, after all.

I am one, and I tend to use both, depending on the situation/context.

I hear Actor as definitely Male which means calling a woman an actor means that we're pretending that her sex is something to be dismissed not celebrated, something to be embarrassed about maybe. So much better if she just pretends to be a bloke, is why she gets called 'Actor'

Yeah, "princesses" when it suits them is a very good way to put it on the Feminist perspective. Thank you for that. Feminist Princesses. I'll remember that. I get reminded all the time why I can't be a Feminist. Can you imagine the uproar would be happening on MN threads if women were as much at risk from covid as men are? Instead we get recent recurring threads about how NHS ignores women's health needs. Sure. Whatever.

ooh, funny only just noticed!

I wonder when English will lose "Princess" then.

So Feminist Princes , definitely. Feminists wouldn't want to be called anything else, right?

I hear Actor as definitely Male

Why?

Because Actor always was male.
I'm sure I'll get over it, it's just the first piece of knowledge my brain thinks it knows.

One day we will have King

I thought it was because women are paid so much less than men and it was thought that using one word to describe men and women who act made a point that they’re doing the same job so should be paid the same.

Not sure who had that thought though. I think I read an article about it somewhere.

@PicsInRed

God that really made me do a belly laugh

Because Actor always was male

Actor is unisex. Actress is female.

Head Mistress is female & seamstress is female

Agreed. The ‘ess’ suffix is the giveaway. Headmaster is male. Headteacher is unisex. No idea what the male or unisex equivalent to seamstress is. Tailor?

I guess you'll be wanting to do away with girl then, too, right? All children can be boys. There's no need to distinguish, after all

Girl is female. Boy is male. Child is unisex.

King is male. Queen is female. Monarch is unisex.

When I was younger I had a friend who insisted on describing me as a "Bank Manageress". It isn't used for roles where the female version isn't in someway inferior. Historically Actress has quite different connotations to Actor.

I remember the Guardian had to publish an apology a few years ago, about an obituary of a famous film director. They had described him as dating "pretty actors" then realised it possibly made him sound gay!

It's just considered a bit old-fashioned.

By whom?

It's daft PC-wokeness. If it were a legitimate concern, "-esses" would be removed in all cases. Why do the female England football team call themselves "lionesses" for goodness sake? Because they don't find it offensive that people know they are female.

Actress, manageress, waitress and so on are only offensive if you subscribe to the view that women in those roles are automatically inferior to their male counterparts. If you consider women to be equal in ability to men, there is no problem using them.

It's like with Miss/Mrs/Ms. Ms is only necessary if you have decided that a "Miss" is inferior to a "Mrs" (or vice-versa). If you believe an unmarried woman is of equal value and importance to a married woman, Ms is redundant.

Objecting to the traditional terms is a sign of prejudice.

It's like with Miss/Mrs/Ms. Ms is only necessary if you have decided that a "Miss" is inferior to a "Mrs" (or vice-versa). If you believe an unmarried woman is of equal value and importance to a married woman, Ms is redundant

I use "Ms" becuse I want a title that is not defined by my marital status in the same way that "Mr" is marital status neutral.

@SylvieHortensis

It's just considered a bit old-fashioned.

By whom?

Actors.

Of both sexes, I should say!

@felulageller

If the best actress award was dropped women would hardly ever win.

^^ This Have you seen how often women win the Sportsperson of the Year award on the BBC (about once per decade)

And if it’s kept... these days...

Agree, OP. Annoys me, too. Why are the 'gender neutral' words the male version.

But words for people/jobs ending in -or (or-er - i.e. nouns of agency)aren't really male versions. They are unisex words, only some of which were unnecessarily adapted to make a specifically female version. Chancellor, contractor, supervisor, prosecutor, janitor etc etc are not specifically male and don't have 'ess' female versions (or not ones in normal usage anyway). Getting rid of the 'ess' versions seems pretty reasonable to me.

I guess you'll be wanting to do away with girl then, too, right? All children can be boys. There's no need to distinguish, after all.

There are situations where it is important to differentiate between the sexes. The name of an identical job done by both sexes is not one of those situations. I'm a teacher. So is my dh. If it's so important to differentiate, why don't we need different job titles?

Have you seen how often women win the Sportsperson of the Year award on the BBC (about once per decade) Unfortunately men's sport is followed by many more people than women's. You can't make people follow women's football.

And most men won’t vote for women and nor will some women. Nor allow them to choose what they would prefer to be called without ridicule.

If a nurse who is male becomes a "Sister" what is his title?

Charge nurse? Senior nurse?

French Feminists argue that Feminine job titles is empowering and a great new development.

I need to brush up on my French :)