Miss, Mrs, Ms or Mx?

[Cherchezlaspice]

Which are you? I’m a Ms, and have been since I was about 8 years old. I didn’t change my title (or my name) when I got married and this caused some consternation amongst some of the older members of my family.

This made me realise that most women I know (married or unmarried) use Ms. I don’t think I’ve come across anyone under the age of about 50 who uses ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs’. And I’ve never encountered a ‘Mx’. I do have a fairly specific demographic bubble, though.

So, I’m curious, which are you/do you use?

I use Dr, but don’t mind if people call me Mrs - I wouldn’t use Mx as that signals an adherence to a certain ideology.

I don't know many single people but assume they use Ms. I forgot I guess I used Ms pre marriage. Most people are like myself and Mrs since marriage at 30ish

50. I use Ms because my marital status is no one else's business

I’ve used Ms since my early 20s (rapidly approaching 60 now).
I did briefly consider changing to Mrs when I got married but as I kept my own surname it wouldn’t have made sense.

I'm 32 and Mrs, all my married friends go by Mrs, my single friends are mostly Miss bar one or two Ms. We're in Northumberland if that makes a difference

Scottish too and I'd agree with this.
I'm still Mrs ex-surname, I kept the surname to match DC and never bothered to change the mrs to miss - seemed too much hassle to change something I only ever see on an envelope

I use Ms and have done since I was about 20; I am married now but still use Ms also didn’t change my name

I'm 47. I now hold a qualification that enables me to use a gender-neutral title but before that happened I was Ms both before and after marriage. The idea that it is only used by divorced women sounds very old fashioned to me.

To me, the question "Miss or Mrs?" is a fundamentally patriarchal and sexist question. It has a built in assumption that the respect accorded to an individual and how one interacts with her is affected by wherher or not she is "taken" and posessed by a man. Using the title Mrs or Miss would feel like consenting to this nasty mindset. The man behind the desk when I am booking in my car for an MOT, or the customer service person I speak to on the phone, really do not need to know whether or not I am married. It is none of their business.

Part of my job is obtaining patients' personal data so I can register them, either on 'phone or by email (we don't have forms for them to complete). If the female patient is under the age of 30 and single, after being vaguely surprised you are asking which title they prefer, usually opt for Miss. It seems many under 30s, male or female, usually don't use titles, and some refer to specialist by his/her first name, even if they have not met them yet. I find Miss quite depressing (if you were a Miss when I was young and later,you used to be treated in a rather patronising way and we fought so hard to get Ms an accepted title). I been Ms since my late teens. I am 68.

I was miss till I married then Mrs. I never ever respond to ms and don't know anyone who is but each to their own.

I use my title for work or Ms.

I’ve always been Ms
Mr stands for mister or master
about time we didn’t make assumptions on woman’s martial status or define her by it

I wouldn’t assume someone was married just because they use Mrs. They could be married or divorced, or they could me not married but have changed their name and prefer to use Mrs.
At the end of the day you can use whichever title you want, it doesn’t actually mean anything. You can be Mr if you want.

Also used Ms from a young age as I had a teacher who went by it and I thought it was cool. I have been a Ms all my life, didn’t change my name on marriage. I hate the sound of Mrs, so would never have changed it to that. I also don’t know may people who use Mrs or changed their name on marriage.

I'm 40 and Mrs.

Most married people I knew are Mrs. I've never enquired about the titles of my unmarried friends. Didn't occur to me to even think about it.

I went to school in a fairly affluent area in London and a large number of my teachers went by Ms. Usually the unmarried ones.

My parents divorced when I was 10. My mother tried to revert to her maiden name but everyone called her Mrs. Maidenname and she said that was her mums name, so she reverted to her married name and kept the Mrs too. 30 years on I think she'll put Ms on a form but won't bother correcting anyone that uses Mrs.

Im a mrs. Married.

60. Married. Mrs.

I don't know anyone - friends nor work - who uses Ms or Mx

I feel like I've always been Mrs. I got married at 20. Much like the marriage itself I was young and didn't really consider it, just did what was the norm.

34, married and Ms myname. I'm Scottish and surprised at other Scots who have never seen it used. It's the norm for women of all ages in my workplace and I know quite a few women out of work who use it as well.

I mostly avoid using a title, but if I do it’s Mrs (I’m 32).

Ms feels really matronly to me, so I would prefer Miss but accept that’s technically incorrect given I’m married.

It very rarely comes up though, where possible I go by First Name/First Initial + Surname with no title.

I've always been Miss Janeway. It's part of my identity and I don't see it as signalling my marital status, even if it does, I don't care about that.

I don't like Ms personally, sounds like a demented bee.

Always a Ms. OP ime at work it's the younger women who use Miss, and change their name as soon as they marry.
I'm surprised a poster said she didn't know women who'd kept their own names in Scotland - wasn't that the default position for Scottish women in the past?

I used Mrs when I was married, Ms after my divorce and now I've got my PhD I use Dr when I have to give a title as I resent how women are defined by their marital status and men aren't! I do know one Mx but it seems strange to me.

I was Ms until I became Dr, except my college which at the time only did Miss or Mrs (or Dr, Lady etc). Where I was Miss despite being married - and it made me feel like an old style Actress.
I've heard the Ms divorced thing but I don't see being divorced as in anyway shameful - and regardless of marital status would probably prefer to be thought of as Divorced than a man's possession

I'm in my thirties and use Ms, as do most unmarried women I know. I can't think of any adult women who use 'Miss', most have stopped by the age of about 18-21. To me using 'Miss' sounds like the equivalent of adult men calling themselves 'Master'

The idea that using Ms means you are divorced seems outdated and something my mum would say tbh.

I wish I could say I was Dr but I didn't make it that far. Anyway I'm a Mrs considering using Ms.