Mrs, Miss, Ms identifies a females status, why does the male gender all ages and status always use Mr?

Question

Is this another outdated "tradition" or in some way a discriminatory unspoken procedure? I see it on Job applications, loan applications, almost everything has you choose. Should women have only one distinction like Ms? ie: Mr. John Doe is married, Mr. John J. Doe is single. What is the "real" meaning of this all?

Answer 1

It is an outdated tradition. It comes from the time when women were defined by whether or not they were married (Miss Jane Smith or Mrs. John Doe). It was only recently that married women were referred to by their actual name instead of their husband's name (Mrs. John Doe can now be called Mrs. Jane Doe).

"Ms." is a recent development out of the women's lib movement, and it is a way to address women formally without referring to their marital status. It is becoming more popular because marital status is mostly irrelevant in formal communications.

As for "Mr.", men only have one title because marriage was traditionally not the defining characteristic of their life, unlike with women. In formal affairs, single men and married men had the same status.

Answer 2

The term Ms. was introduced in the early 1970s. Those of you born after that obviously don't remember the social ridicule and constant denigration that women who demanded to be referred to as Ms. initially received. Because of these millions of anonymous women who agreed with you that their marital status was nobody's business, and because of their incredible inner strength to withstand rampant peer and familial ridicule all day long, it is now the norm to call women Ms. socially, professionally, and on government forms. Nowadays, we rarely see the terms Mrs. and Miss used. Most of the folks who still have a need to publicly announce the marital status of a woman are 50+ years old. When they die, those sexist prefixes will hopefully also die. It's just a matter of time when we all look back on Mrs./Miss in the same way we look back on Colored Only drinking fountains. (People really did that?!?)

Answer 3

These are designations or titles for addressing the different genders. Fortunately or unfortunately the females have more forms then the males. But I am sure we can add innovations as we please. Imagine a female opting for Ms instead of Miss or Mrs. And a male revealing his marital status voluntarily beside his name. Then we all can have a choice according to preference. And certainly we will have more to gossip and talk about.

Answer 4

Like you said, it's an outdated tradition. There is no good reason for it. It should be designated as one thing, just like Mr. But it does make it easier for men to figure out if a woman is date-able...

Answer 5

It is a language artifact from the time when a woman was defined by her marital status, and had little other value to society. I personally don't think it shows any sexism, it is just tradition, but many say that it does.

Answer 6

I think we should all use one of four letters in front of our names for either male or female. Those would be M: for married, S: for single, W: widowed, or D: for divorced. Wouldn't that be fair? Samples: M. John Doe, S. John Doe, W. John Doe or W. John Doe.

Answer 7

I've noticed that pretty much, Ms. has taken over in place of Mrs.
Another salutation that is used for males is "Master" in front of a male child's name

Answer 8

I agree. It's outdated and ridiculous. All those titles make it confusing. I say we abolish all female titles except for "Ms."

Answer 9

They Dont... Males under the age of 13 it is custom to say MASTER....

Answer 10

THIS TRADITION WAS MADE BY MEN FOR MEN.
WHAT DO I MEAN?
WHEN A MAN KNOWS FIRST HAND IF A WOMAN IS SINGLE OR MARRIED BY NAME, THIS HELPS HIM TO SEEK A WOMAN TO BE WITH.