This may be a dumb question, but what is the difference between Miss and Ms. ?

Answer 1

Mrs. = married
Miss = unmarried
Ms. = either (marital status unspecified)

Answer 2

Oh the ongoing debate!

Traditionally Miss represented an unmarried woman. Regardless of age.

Mrs. represented a married woman or a widowed woman.

Ms. represented a divorced woman. Or so one of the elderly donors had corrected me one day at the charity that I worked for. Although, there is nothing to lend credence to this besides just taking her word for it.

Going through university and taken gender studies classes I always understood Ms. to be a gender neutral form of address created to parrallel the male, Mr.

Some women prefer it. Others despise it as they feel it is a title that undermines marriage.

In business, I think Ms. is preferable since if the marital status of a woman is unknown Ms. can acceptably be used as a perfectly respectible form of address.

Answer 3

I've often seen Ms used by older women (older than middle aged) who have either got divorced, and do not want to go back to miss (I guess it can be construed as a derogatory term by some people when referring to older women), or those who are is position of authority and are often referred to by thier surnames and do not want thier marital status on display for some reason (the most obvious examples I can think of are teachers and female surgeons).
It's more a preferance really, and I guess you can have a choice.

Answer 4

"Miss" is used by younger women that have never been married. "Ms." can be used by either younger or older women that have never been married, are married, or are separated or divorced. It may have started out as a women's lib thing but nowadays it really doesn't have anything to do with women's lib. Some women just like the sound of "Ms." better than "Miss", and some married women don't like being "Mrs." anybody. They may also have kept their last names when they married. Most women use "Ms." because it sounds more mature.

Answer 5

I'm with dwh12345, woman's lib thing. Women thought it was sexist to be identified as married or unmarried by the title. After all, men, married or unmarried are just Mr. Until that point you were either Miss or Mrs., unmarried or married. Ms. gave women a title comparative to a man's.

Answer 6

Ms is used in all business correspondence - as Mr. is for men (you never EVER use Mrs. or Miss in business these days)

Ms is also generally preferred by those such as myself that are older - have been married and divorced. Miss is normally meant for the young and never married women. HOWEVER young professional women that have never been married most often use Ms as well.

Answer 7

Miss is a single woman. Ms is usually a woman who could be either Mrs or Miss, but prefers to keep it private (for example, in case someone thought she was a single lady living alone....they may burgle etc)

Answer 8

Miss means never married.Ms is what some people prefer if they are divorced and don't want to go by Mrs.Some ladies use Ms as a personal preference.

Answer 9

Ms.= either single or married or unknown marital status!
Miss = Single woman

Answer 10

My dad used to get so wound up by my teachers calling themselves Ms., so your question made me smile!

Being young and never married, I always use the title 'Miss'. Women who do not want to reveal that they are married, or are married but still use their maiden name, use 'Ms.', which is what our teachers usually did.

In the chemist, I get called 'Mrs.' by the receptionist. I feel like saying 'That's my mother!' I did that one time when a colleague addressed me as 'Mrs.' one time.

Answer 11

"Miss" or "Mrs." is used in distinguishing marital status. Also "Miss" can be used as form of respect even if you do not know marital status.
Like if you were in a restaurant and you wanted to call the waitress, you might say, "Miss?"
"Ms" is used formally in business as the counterpart of "Mr." as neither conveys marital status.