One mother from Great Britain has sparked a spunky debate after she claimed that society should do away with former titles for women like Miss, Mrs., and Ms. Because they are outdated. The mom, who shared her views on the British parenting website, Mumsnet, explained that she finds it odd that people refer to women by their marital status. The mother brought up the topic because she was shopping for a lamp in a store when the salesperson asked her which title she wanted to be referred to, and she said, “it is not information the shop needs.”
The mother shared her view that the entire system should be “scrapped” because it is inappropriate in modern life to refer to women by their marital status. Many people agreed with the woman, who posted her content anonymously, claiming that referring to women by their marital status is nothing more than “patriarchal nonsense” that needs to go the way of the dinosaurs.
However, some people felt that it would be appropriate to keep the titles for situations when you would need to address someone formally. This would allow people to express their respect for women by addressing them by the title appropriate for their marital status.
The woman wrote, “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 the 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.?”
She added, “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desire by the younger generation to not even be defined by gender, identifying women by their marital status feels so outdated.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?”
One person replied, “I didn’t take my ex-husband’s name when we got married and remained a Miss. So Miss doesn’t always mean single or unmarried. I think we should do away with it, too, though, along with the expectation a woman takes her husband’s name on marriage. Patriarchal nonsense.”
Another person agreed, writing: “Agree, it’s utterly pointless. I did not start using Mrs. when I got married. I don’t think a woman’s marital status should have anything to do with her title. If someone desperately wants others to know they are married, I’m sure there’s plenty of other ways they could do it.”
Do you think society should still refer to women by title?