*cry*

[rm]

I just had to explain to someone in the office that "Ms" was created to have a title for women that did not indicate their marital status. They thought it was merely a contraction for "Miss".

Perhaps there are so many women in PR and marketing, not because it's a "soft", verbal skill, but because the natureof being female is a life of self-marketing anyway, whether we wish it or not.

I have a lot more to say about this, in a more personal vein, that I will hopefully get to tonight.

Comments

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

Stumbled across your journal randomly and saw we have a bit in common. I hope you don't mind, but I've added you as a friend.

[rm.livejournal.com]

No problem at all. Welcome aboard.

[sethg]

Not to mention that in the strict formal usage, a married woman refers to herself as "Mrs." plus her husband's name. If Jane Smith marries John Smith, she can either be "Ms. Jane Smith" or "Mrs. John Smith" or "Jane Smith (Mrs. John Smith)", but "Mrs. Jane Smith" is a divorcee. Thus sayeth Miss Manners.

(But how does this apply to gay marriage? If Jane Smith were to marry Harriet Jones in Massachusetts, would Ms. Jane Smith become Mrs. Harriet Jones?)

[rm.livejournal.com]

And Miss Manners is quite correct.

Note to self: write about chattel later.

Seriously, the name thing is creepy. Not taking someone's last name, but the disappearance and reappearance of the first name in cases of marriage and divorce. The disappearing and reappearing woman. Our greatest goal, supposedly, is to be invisible.

[mintygirl.livejournal.com]

Uggh, this reminds me my coworker seriously thought only divorced women used "Ms." and will only call women younger than 40 "Miss." ARRRRGH. I can't even begin to describe my frustration with him.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

I remember a male friend in college telling me that sometimes it helps to hear examples from a different perspective, that he'd read an article pointing out we don't call black men different titles depending on whether they had a job or not. That was an interesting point but what was surprising to me was that he *needed* another example to get why someone might have an issue with "Miss" vs "Mrs" (he wasn't someone I thought wasn't getting that.)