To think its time to get rid of personal titles ie. Miss, Mrs, Ms?

[jumpingbean1810]

I was ordering something in a shop the other day and the assistant, in her 20s, was putting my details into their system. She said, I hate asking this, I find it so embarrassing but are you Miss, Ms or Mrs? I replied I'm Miss. I was there with my daughter so in that one exchange I'd divulged I was a single, unmarried parent. It's not information the shop needs for me to order a lamp. And if I was a man, they'd be Mr and none the wiser as to marital status. I know I could say Ms but does any married woman really use Ms? So Ms just ends up sounding like a Miss with issues. It got me thinking why do we need personal titles, how often are they really used anyway? Can they not just be scrapped from form filling? With the increasing desire by the younger generation to not even be defined by gender, identifying women by their marital status feels so outdated. It's international women's day tomorrow and in the spirit of embracing equity, isn't it time we abolished women being defined by marital status?

No, because both genders have wear them. And it's not linking one gender's identity to their ability to get the other to commit to them.

So do I - I've been one for fifty years regardless of marital status and I have no intention of changing it; not to appease men and certainly not to appease other women.

If other women want to use 'Ms' or whatever they like that's up to them, just as using 'Miss' is up to me.

This won't happen because many women like being 'Mrs' (as if it's some kind of achievement) and like changing their surname because an amazing number of women don't like their birth surname (I always wonder how the rest of their families cope especially the men with their awful surnames - I mean what do they do when they get married.

I agree with you though and I am a Ms. I'm encouraging my DD to just be Ms too,

It makes nit one ounce of difference to me if people are married or not.

I can imagine a few of the fields you are likely to be in

What like the trans rights activists?

Just because a group manages to make change, doesn't mean it's reasonable, rationale, positive or well thought out.

I know whatever next....they'll be expecting equal pay and everything....its a slippery slope
..

Quite the opposite where I work, in a female dominated field. The majority who are married are Mrs. It's not dying out any time soon here.

Oh yeah, what?

We don't use tiltes at all in my field. Turns out both gender and marital status are entirely irrelevant to the professional output we deliver.

Equal pay of course.

Don't lose your way in the pursuit of good and positive though.

an amazing number of women don't like their birth surname (I always wonder how the rest of their families cope especially the men with their awful surnames - I mean what do they do when they get married.

Their wives hate their birth surname more than their husbands'.

I also think this is funny, as one could simply change their name if they didn't like it but I suppose taking your husband's name seems to be the more acceptable way of changing your name. I wonder how many men who hate their names have changed it to the woman's surname?

I think it's okay to be traditional and stand behind not thinking much about it or not caring about what people think than make funny excuses.

Law. No need to imagine.

But becoming standard across most professions where women tend to be higher paid/more highly educated.

Teaching gender studies? 😁

I don't disagree with you that the titles are outdated. I think all women should just be Ms as all men are Mr. However, I am a married woman who uses Ms. I also kept my name. (The children have a mix - boys have his name, girl has mine). It definitely confuses people, but it was the most neutral name I could have and I figured we have to start somewhere. I hope to see more married women do the same.

What about an engagement ring?

I can imagine 'activists' reacting in different ways. Those seething because they had to make do with a £40 topaz ring would cry for an OUTRIGHT BAN on engagement rings because they are an ever present symbol of the patriarchy, misoginy and oppression. Evil, evil contraptions. They may find them 'triggering' even

Other 'activists' who may have married up and hence given a 2-carat diamond may be less inclined to hide them though...

Ah so those who use Mrs are more highly educated.

I'll be sure to tell my highly educated female colleagues who use Mrs that they're just not educated enough.

There are only a couple of posters here seething and they're not the loony activists.....

Unfortunately female dominated professions are often seen by society as lower status/less worthy of higher pay/less educated even so that may correspond.

I wonder why you need to label anyone disagreeing with you on this as "activists", condesendingly using the term "triggering" or resorting to hyperbole. It comes across as very defensive. Almost like you don't have a real counter argument...

It won't, but the same is also true for use of titles. Particularly when, as is inevitable at some point, the wrong one gets used. There isn't actually a way of doing this that doesn't piss some people off.

I used Ms at all stages, ore
marriage, during marriage, and now that I am divorced.

I'm just using the words that they use over and over again as it may be easier for them to understand in this way

That's not what I said.

But professional highly educated women are more likely to retain their own name, not least as they will have built a career/been published with it.

😂

Married Ms here. Occasionally Miss. No issues. I kept my unmarried name and so have most people I know personally and professionally. I don’t think I work in one if ‘those’ areas, whatever they are…