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desire by the younger generation to not even be defined by gender, identifying women by their marital status feels so outdated.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?

I’m a Miss, I’m a parent and I’m a partnership with the Dad, not married.

But Miss is the equivalent of Master which is for children, isn't it? I know Miss is used for unmarried but it's also used to little girls.. so I feel it's infantalising when used about an adult woman. It also signalling you're single which comes with it's own associations: available to date, spinster, unmarried/single mother... and there is social stigma about these things.

Not abolish them altogether, but there are many circumstances where they are not needed such as that the OP describes and in those cases just name and surname should be asked for.

😂 I'm married and still use miss. I hate mrs! I like the fact they judge me wrongly. Mrs is for old ladies in my eyes, Miss is for youthful girls. I am nearer retiring than not but still think I'm young and fresh

I’m really sorry to jump on your thread and ask a question about myself.
I’m in the process of divorce- what title should I be using?
Also when the divorce is finalised, should I start using Ms/Miss again?
(keeping ex husbands surname if that’s relavent)

Agreed actually. They’re all pointless, doesn’t matter your sex.

I agree with you that Ms sounds like she has issues

Yep, with you on that.

Proud probably isn't quite the right word. But I'm not bothered/ashamed either. And the only person I know IRL who seems to insist I should be Ms says so because "you don't want people to know you're an unmarried mother". Why the fuck not. I am an unmarried mother, I couldn't care less if people do, or don't know.

So I use Miss. Because that's my preference. And frankly, no one else's business.

Posted to soon... I'm not youthful or fresh by the way. It just doesn't bother me. Choose lord or lady, a friend of mine does! 😂

I agree with this. I dont think he need Mr or Miss/Mrs/Ms or Mx. We can keep Lord, Dr and Reverend and stuff like that.

Fair point f it's a woman, would you think it poncy if a man in a non professional context wanted to be addressed as Dr?

Meh. I'm happily married, I use Ms. I think it's about time we did away with Miss and Mrs so that our titles don't divulge marital status automatically.

I don't think it's legal to do this?

Because it took me fucking years to get my PhD and I’m proud of it 🤣🤣🤣

todaystoday

You can use which ever title you like.

I use Dr, because why should anyone know my marital status, plus I earnt it?! If there's no option for Dr, then I use Ms.

This is exactly how it used to be used in the dim and distant past.

No idea why it ever changed really.

Pretty sure Madame and Mademoiselle denote martial status too these days. But it's less rigid than Miss and Mrs. I might be wrong though.

I am very proud of being Miss

Good idea. I hate and I mean hate ms. I'm Mrs but love the idea of no title s

I worked in a bank about 10 years ago and we were told to change a woman’s title to Ms when we received a decree absolute and a request to change their surname (if they didn’t specify). Nobody ever seemed to call to correct this. I always associate it with a divorced woman now for that reason, although I do know of a couple of women that have used it throughout their adult lives.

I do find it odd that women that are so passionate about this actually get married. I would have thought that the institution of marriage would also seem outdated and unnecessary. I know someone that got married but was adamant she wasn’t talking her husband’s name (I don’t know what title she uses). She told me that she didn’t really agree with marriage but just wanted the party/dress/ring.

I use my ‘Dr’ title outside of work mostly in order to avoid the whole Mrs/Miss/Ms thing. I also enjoy the effect it has on patronising men.

Ms was unheard of during my rural northern upbringing, as was keeping maiden names after marriage, but I agree it should be the default (I’m mid-40s and happily married for reference).

I prefer Mrs personally. I dont judge anyone who prefers Ms. I don't think Ms =issues To me it just = they don't want to be Mrs or Miss. I'm ok with that.

However as I like Mrs why should I have to change this to make others feel comfortable? To me if most feel Ms or Mx is the best option the other two will die out from lack of use. That's not currently happening it may in 50 years time.

Here is the joy: you can use whatever the fuck you want 😁

Stay Mrs, go back to Miss if that’s what you were before, use Ms. It’s entirely your choice.

I don't use one. I just give my name without one on forms etc.

Yanbu I don’t need it

Because if it’s a choice about whether I’m going to be defined by my marital or professional status, I’ll choose the latter.