Miss or Ms?

Question

Does anyone know the difference (politically or for any other reason) between calling oneself a 'Ms' as opposed to a 'Miss'?

Answer 1

I can't believe the number of people on here assuming that insisting on "Ms" is some kind of radical feminism! Hardly - it is the standard nowadays, and rightly so.

Using Miss or Mrs to a woman you don't know always involves making a judgment about what you think her marital status may be. It's very rude to judge people when you don't know them, so it's always more polite to use Ms. If the person in question would prefer Miss or Mrs, she will tell you. But you have not made a rude and unnecessary assumption about her personal life.

The reason the term has become popular is simply because it is more respectful and more equal with the male 'Mr'. It avoids social embarrassment and promotes sexual equality. There is nothing radical about that at all.

Answer 2

Since Ms leaves a woman's marital status unknown, it could be a security issue as well. I live in a pretty good neighborhood but I've known a couple single friends who lived in apartments in large cities who didn't like to be listed as 'Miss' anywhere. My mom keeps using 'Mrs' even though she was widowed more than fifteen years ago for the same reason; not always a good thing when everyone who happens to see a piece of mail or such knows she's an older woman living alone.

Answer 3

I believe that the Ms came about by feminine protesters who didnt want to be labelled has miss because Ms can be used by both married and single women who want to use the term Ms then no one can tell if they are married or not. I always get letters starting Ms and I hate it, I would prefer to be called Miss. To me it is a very unfeminine title.

Answer 4

Ms came about because some feminists resented the fact that while men don't have a distinction between married and unmarried men, we do. They started the Ms thing in response to that.

I personally have never been married and resent being called anything but Miss.

Answer 5

Women are getting more independent in these modern days so "Miss" means the woman is single, and "Ms." could be a single woman or a married woman. If you were to send a letter to someone and you weren't sure if the woman was married or not you would put "Ms. Smith." Also, some women today are also keeping their surnames after marriage (go by their surname and not their husbands last name) while others will link their surname with that of their new husbands. Eg: Her name is Smith and his is Johnson, so she'd go by "Mary Smith-Johnson." Some women will do this especially if they are in business.

Answer 6

Ms was a term adopted in the 70's/80's by women, especially in the workplace, who didn't see that it mattered whether a woman was married, single, divorced, lesbian or heterosexual. Men had only one title, Mr. - whether they were married, single or divorced. Also it simplified addressing women contacts in business if you did not know whether they were Miss or Mrs. Ms meant either.
Unfortunately it gradually became used by mainly divorcees, lesbians or women of strong feminist beliefs. Personally I use whichever I feel like at the time. My passport say Mrs, my driving licence says Ms.

Answer 7

The abbreviation Ms. stand for the same word as both Mrs. and Miss, and it's been around for centuries. The feminists didn't invent Ms., they only revived it.

Answer 8

Miss is a title used for an unmarried female. Ms is used by someone who doesn't want to reveal her marital status. I can't imagine why people would say that using Ms is a sign of homosexuality or feminism. I personally don't know why someone would want to keep their marital status a secret but some obviously value their privacy in this area!!!

Answer 9

Ms is really a reinvention that is supposed to not indicate either marriage or singleness. Politically Ms was first used that way by liberated women starting in the 1970's


--That Cheeky Lad

Answer 10

As others have stated Ms. does not reveal the persons marital status. This is to give women a title which like the male title Mr. does not reveal marital status.

If men don't automatically have to reveal marital status then why should women? It's generally considered an equality issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms.