EU bans use of 'Miss' and 'Mrs'

This is a VERY dumb move imo.

It will only divorce the political "elite" further from the everyday person who is quite happy using the words that have sufficed for centuries and are part of everyday conversation.

Welcome to "newspeak" everybody, they've just halved a little part of common grammar.

What a bunch of madpersons!

[edit on 16/3/2009 by nerbot]

More politically correct bull for people to feel bad for saying. Seems like there are more important things that governments around the world could be working on rather than worrying if the poor married woman is called Miss and the single woman is called Mrs. by mistake. But that's just me.

Have you guys seen how much one single MEP costs in terms of 'its' annual expense account? And they sit around drinking air-miles of glass-bottled water to discuss this drek?! Where's this heading?....Probably the epithets 'citizen' or 'subject' at best. At worst: 'prisoner no. x', considering the global panopticon this world of ours has accelerated into.

I mean, there is a case for Mrs Thatcher. . . . . the 'duke'. And I'm half the man Madonna is.

BUT!

Come on all you fellow Euros! Our youthful American cousins seem nicely to be assimilating 'dog' & 'bitch' as an efficient alternative. Lets sidestep the longest running Monty Python skit that is the EU and just call each other Sahib or Memsahib.

RIght now it would seem that the most politically correct incarnation should be a ladyboy.

Most of the responses to this thread are a real eye opener for me... in a very disheartening way.

People actually do not even realize that women are automatically and legally branded by "Mrs., Ms., or Miss" and that, yes, it is very sexist and discriminatory. Men are not labled of their marital status... only women.

For those of you who speak for all women by claiming this is unwanted, insane, etc. Please stop speaking on behalf of all women.

This is long overdue and the U.S. needs to do it too... like yesterday.

so......

more things falling into place for the World Goverment to keep better tabs on people and make the world into one nation....

slowly but surely all those things we were told about regarding the NWO seem to be coming to fruition.....

Im guessing the next step is to somehow incorporate RFID chips to identify people rather than using names

almost time to head for the hills so to speak....

Um, excuse me, MEN of ATS.

Mister is used of men regardless of their marital status. By single men, married men, straight men, gay men & million different.

But Mrs & Miss indicate a woman's marital status. And sexual availability to all you men.

Now that might be a good thing for you, Mr ATS'er, it separates the wheat from the chaff & allows you to concentrate your fire, such as it is, from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy.

But it's assuredly not a good thing for us

The Lass

I really don't see what the fuss is?

This is not a law, it's a guideline for how politicians should address each other and their constituents while they're on the job. This kind of thing is pretty important in diplomacy actually.

And yes, it is discriminatory to have personal information about one's marital status implicit in the term of address being used. I haven't checked the "Miss" box on a form that requests my preferred term of address since I was 18 I don't think.

I either check "Ms." or leave it blank. Is there a problem with using "Ms." to address adult women in political settings? In school, I referred to female teachers as "Ms", "Dr", or "Professor", depending on their preference and degree, just as I referred to male teachers as "Mr", "Dr", or "Professor". It seems like common sense.

If I were to be put into a professional situation that would require me to address various people in languages in which I'm not aware of the social protocols, I would appreciate having a set of guidelines available.

Originally posted by mr-lizard
Stupid, stupid political correctness...

This is what isolates people.

Stupid people.

Thankyou sir!

Do you guys know how much an MEP costs annually in terms of 'its expense account alone? And these professional masturbators are salaried to sit around drinking air-miles of bottled water whilst discussing this drek!?

Come on fellow Euros! Our American cousins seem nicely to be assimilating 'dog' & 'bitch' into terms of address. Maybe we can retain some dignity whilst sidestepping the longest running Monty Python skit that is the EU and just refer to eachother as Memsahib/Sahib.

There'll never be avoiding prejudice and status anxiety anymore than there'll ever be a war on ideology/terror/poverty/education. It's people war is waged upon: scholars/revolutionaries/the poor/children - respectively. The EU might as well blanket drop propoganda leaflets from Hercules. They'd save money alienating us from each other.
mr-lizard is right.

I've broken into their secret data base and found the answer to the question.


If you don't know someone's name, you simply shout.


HEY! YOU!

And point when everyone looks.

What a load of dren.

It's only confirming what is already true. Women are no longer AS dependant on males. Is this the end of the world? We'll see, maybe just a switch in the power structure. Oh no, women in their kind and humanitarian ways will destroy us all!!!! (satire in that last line, in case you didn't hear it).

What will be, will be.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
They probably will just all use Ms. now, instead. Because there aren't 3 different forms of Mr. relating to marital status. And sometimes it's too personal to ask Miss vs Mrs. As long as Ms is still okay, I think that's fine, and probably a good idea.

I don't know if half my teachers prefer Ms. vs Miss or Mrs. vs Ms.

MS (mizzzzzzz) is not a word and I refuse to call any female 'mistress', of which ms is an abbreviation.

How about using Sar as a form of address for both sexes?
Sar & Sar Jones invite you to their PC party.

[edit on 3/16/2009 by wookiee]

Originally posted by wookiee

MS (mizzzzzzz) is not a word and I refuse to call any female 'mistress', of which ms is an abbreviation.

then what do you call females? Miss and Mrs. are both also abbreviations of the word "Mistress", which is the female counterpart to "Mister".

Ms (UK) or Ms. (USA) (pronounced /mɪz/ or /məz/[1]) is an English honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman. As with Mrs. and Miss, Ms. is a contraction of the honorific "Mistress", which is the feminine of "Mister" or "Master". Unlike Miss and Mrs., however, Ms. is used properly of married, divorced, or unmarried women and therefore does not denote marital status. In the U.S., the Emily Post Institute states that Ms. is the default form of address for business correspondence with a woman.[2]

Wikipedia article on Ms.

I actually don't recall ever calling any female ms, mrs, or miss., nor do I call anyone 'mister'. I met the ceo of my company at a seminar recently, called him Mike, right off the bat.

Even in British school, I never called teacher, Miss Cox. I'd raise my hand and once recognized, I'd go directly to the question or answer.Thinking about it, I rarely call anyone by their name.


[edit on 3/16/2009 by wookiee]

Originally posted by loam
Pretty ridiculous from a continent where 'gender' is built into the very structure of several languages found in Europe.

Perhaps this is a conspiracy perpetrated by English speaking students who no longer wish to memorize the gender of endless strings of nouns.

I guess until French, German, Spanish and Italian (among others) are thoroughly revamped, we wont have to hear from the Europeans for quite some time on any subject.

[edit on 16-3-2009 by loam]

Actually English does have masculine and feminine words its just that people don't pay attention to them; there are actually quite a few I asked about it couple years ago when I took an Spanish Class and I asked why do most languages have it expect for English and the professor showed me a book that actually listed them I will try to see if I can get a copy of the book. They are there its just that people never use them.

Originally posted by mystiq
If they've done this, according to the article, while a man may be addressed as Mr. which gives him some politeness and respect, a woman should only be addressed by her name, which in itself is sexist.

Totally agree if this is the case and I think it's more offensive than having the marital status honoured!

It should be Mr and Ms regardless, end of story.

*EDIT*
Typo.

[edit on 16-3-2009 by Goathief]

I am not really worried about this as it's a suggestion

Sexism has little to do with the name itself. It is about how it is phrased and the tone in which it is spoken. Even debating the issue is stupid (am I allowed to say that?)

There are two sexes yes. And what would I do without women (crap, I wonder if some women ((uhhh some other human posessing female traits)) out there wouldn't see the lighthearted humer here)

Come on people,, Call her what she wants to be called. Easy! If someone you know likes to be called Jane call her Jane. I know many women who are offended at NOT calling them Mrs. Simpson rather than Marge. or widows, or whatever. Just address poeple as they like to be addressed.. I think that making such a big deal trying to come up with something that will encompass ALL women is idiotic (oops, umm) Use judgement and common sense..

People know if you are being insulting or condesending or not and if you're really innocent and you call a woman miss instead of Mrs. then you will absolutley not mind being politly corrected.

Originally posted by j2000
I've broken into their secret data base and found the answer to the question.


If you don't know someone's name, you simply shout.


HEY! YOU!

And point when everyone looks.

Absolutely j2000.

I find it utterly bewildering that anyone should believe that, by veiling your marital status through a term of address, you should garner more respect, dignity and equality! How long does it take to find out for pete's sake? And then what's changed?

Besides, most women I know are so much at the mercy of status anxiety that the ring; the wedding to trump all their friends'; and the moon on a stick won't keep 'em happy.

I recall working as a civil servant and being rebuked for holding a door. I quietly but succinctly pointed out that said lady oughtn't to flatter herself; I'd've held the door for a febrile circus freak.

Maybe women continue to suffer from objectification; how else can one worship. But the methods of redress don't seem to mature beyond demonisation & ridicule.

Ladies, your children need us.

Think on, Mrs

reply to post by AlienChaser


I think people are being misled by the title of this article.

As I read it, this was a pamphlet issued to representatives to the European Parliament with guidelines for the use of language in official business.

This is not a law or anything like what using the word "ban" makes it sound like. And this publication and the MEPs who are getting on the populist bandwagon by denouncing it as "political correctness" are spinning it so far out of reason on purpose.

This is just a pamphlet that gives people who may or may not be aware of the traps of the English language a set of guidelines to use. It would be nice to actually see the pamphlet, or at least a report of it that's not so biased, but if you read carefully it seems pretty straightforward.

They're not talking about how you should address your neighbor, your mother-in-law, or the bank teller. They're talking about how they should address each other during parliamentary sessions, what language they should use in official publications, how they should refer to female third parties in official statements. No big deal.

Meh. Semantics. There are other things we can say. The ones that are popping into my head are either too Renaissance Fair-ish or wouldn't be commonly used, at least not here in the U.S... Milady, lass, lady, and ma'am are a few. Around here, though, I always here people say "Miss" to get the attention of a woman they don't know, whether she's married or not. Of course, "Oy" and "hey you" always work, too, but they aren't as polite.
According to the article, it only applies to those in politics. I'm not surprised there. In politics, you always walk on thin ice. Guidelines for this are probably a good thing for politicians.

Originally posted by americandingbat
reply to post by AlienChaser

 

They're not talking about how you should address your neighbor, your mother-in-law, or the bank teller. They're talking about how they should address each other during parliamentary sessions, what language they should use in official publications, how they should refer to female third parties in official statements. No big deal.

With respect, this is the EU here. If implemented, it will trickle down. What get's us hoppin' is how 'Sir' Fred Goodwin's knighthood hasn't been revoked. Yet parliamentary time is spent chasing ephemeral vanity.