[DWC]

(Original post by NB_ide)
Why do we refer to people as Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms? What's the point? So you want to know if Smith is a man or a woman, right? But why, are you going to treat them differently depending on whether they turn out to be a Mr or Ms?

Men and women are EQUAL. Not the same lol but EQUAL. They are the same. Our DNA only differs by % and it's ridiculous to have different titles for each gender. It's sad that in this day and age people still think some first names are for girls and some are for boys, but that's another topic I suppose.

Titles like Dr are better because they're genderless and give us some idea about the position of the person in their work, but why does it matter whether someone is a Mr or Mrs?

If I had my way I'd ban the use of those words like how it's illegal to mention someone's race unless it's strictly relevant (and it never is). Obviously men and women are physically different (but equal) so sometimes, such as in medical matters, it's appropriate to distinguish between them, but we don't need constant always-in-use titles like Mr and Mrs to do that.

Who's with me?

Seriously WTF! If people of Britain are going to question this sort of thing then we might as well just replace all food with dog biscuits while we're at it!

Can you seriously not think of any reasons to keep name titles?

How about someone callling your name out? I don't want someone to have to say is the "female" John Smith present or a letter to be addressed to the "male" Clare Jones. For that matter i don't want people opening my mail thinking it's theirs. Think of how many confusing situations a man and wife would get into if the had the same first name!

[blu tack]

(Original post by Hype en Ecosse)
I don't think it matters either way. There's no reason for the change, and it'd just cause confusion for a while until everyone got used to and started to stop using the titles.

If something like this were to happen, I definitely think there should be a unisex term we can use instead for formal situations with a stranger as a respect thing. Think about how weird it sounds a stranger calling you your surname without Mr/Miss in front of it. Should get the linguists to come up with one.



Talking about sex-gender differences is always a mouthful, so I think as a matter of semantics and brevity, the status of "male and female" as descriptors of biological sex needs to be emphasised and you get rid of the idea of them being synonymous with "man and woman" gender terms that is present in society so that we could have a male woman, or a female man. Both are much clearer and briefer than "biologically male, identifies as a woman" and more couth than "woman with a penis."

It's something I'd like to see incorporated into our language.

I agree entirely, though I think the 'biological male identifying as a woman' type statement is annoyingly going to be necessary until society is a lot more open/informed about the differences between sex and gender.

[Kazbian]

(Original post by Snagprophet)
Yeah, it's not like anyone has ever changed their name when marrying.

I also think that's annoying. I really dislike the tradition of a woman changing her title/surname upon marriage. It's just that the thread was about titles, so I was keeping it on topic.

[justmyopinions]

(Original post by blu tack)
If you were actually asking, plenty of women have penises, and plenty of men have vaginas. As for everyone not wanting to be called by just their last name, a genderless title would work well.

You're the reason political correctness has gone too far. And yes, thse women with penises want to be called men. Therefore, Mr.

[justmyopinions]

(Original post by Kazbian)
I also think that's annoying. I really dislike the tradition of a woman changing her title/surname upon marriage. It's just that the thread was about titles, so I was keeping it on topic.

why? A woman doesn't have to, and most prefer to change it seeing as the child of the family recieves the dads name, therefore everyone has the same name. For example, airport security wouldn't believe that my aunt was the mother of my cousin as they had different last names. She regretted her decision of keeping her maiden name and changed it.
Besides, if women didn't want to change their name then they don't have to. Although it's a big factor of marriage (unity), so don't get married if you don't want to lose your name.

[Hype en Ecosse]

(Original post by justmyopinions)
You're the reason political correctness has gone too far. And yes, thse women with penises want to be called men. Therefore, Mr.

You've entirely missed the point of the sex-gender dichotomy. Women with penises are biologically male, but mentally they identify as a woman, so in what possible universe is this a person that wants to be known as a man?

[Kazbian]

(Original post by justmyopinions)
why? A woman doesn't have to, and most prefer to change it seeing as the child of the family recieves the dads name, therefore everyone has the same name. For example, airport security wouldn't believe that my aunt was the mother of my cousin as they had different last names. She regretted her decision of keeping her maiden name and changed it.
Besides, if women didn't want to change their name then they don't have to. Although it's a big factor of marriage (unity), so don't get married if you don't want to lose your name.

I've got no problem with a woman changing it. It's more that it's expected/tradition and a woman could be judged for not doing it. Why is it always the woman? I've never wanted to change my name and won't when I get married, and my children will receive my surname. I'm willing to double barrel if both me and my partner do it, and the child can receive that surname.

To say I shouldn't get married if I don't want to change my name is ridiculous. I can legally show my commitment to someone else without having to change my name thank you very much. And if the husband is that bothered about us having unity, then he can take my name, though I wouldn't expect him to. I'm quite happy us both keeping our names.

[RandZul'Zorander]

(Original post by justmyopinions)
You're the reason political correctness has gone too far. And yes, thse women with penises want to be called men. Therefore, Mr.

Uh...I think you are confused. A woman with a penis wants to be called a woman. So...not Mr. but rather Mrs./Miss/Ms. But the entire point of the thread is that if there were a gender neutral one then it wouldn't be an issue because the gender of the person is really kind of irrelevant.

[That Bearded Man]

What if a letter comes through the door of Alex and Alice Jones. Addressed to A Jones?

[rockrunride]

I certainly think that Miss and Mrs should be contracted to Ms.

[That Bearded Man]

(Original post by Kazbian)
I've got no problem with a woman changing it. It's more that it's expected/tradition and a woman could be judged for not doing it. Why is it always the woman? I've never wanted to change my name and won't when I get married, and my children will receive my surname. I'm willing to double barrel if both me and my partner do it, and the child can receive that surname.

To say I shouldn't get married if I don't want to change my name is ridiculous. I can legally show my commitment to someone else without having to change my name thank you very much. And if the husband is that bothered about us having unity, then he can take my name, though I wouldn't expect him to. I'm quite happy us both keeping our names.

This is of course a sign of equality, however in the future then children will be born with infinite surnames

[guantanamera]

i don't mind being referred to as a woman. the problem is deeper than just what title we are given.. and by "banning" the mentioning of a gender or race, you aren't celebrating what is different about us and just shoving us all into a big blob of grey.

[fairysdad]

(Original post by rockrunride)
I certainly think that Miss and Mrs should be contracted to Ms.

I know plenty of women who would disagree with you on that one, and at least one who finds the term Ms exceptionally offensive (not sure why though...)

[Chumbaniya]

(Original post by That Bearded Man)
What if a letter comes through the door of Alex and Alice Jones. Addressed to A Jones?

Gendered titles wouldn't really help. Alex can be a girl's name.

[Good bloke]

(Original post by That Bearded Man)
in the future then children will be born with infinite surnames

I wouldn't want to be the person that has to design a form for gathering name and address information when that happens.

[That Bearded Man]

(Original post by Chumbaniya)
Gendered titles wouldn't really help. Alex can be a girl's name.

In terms of identifying someone, yes it would

[Good bloke]

(Original post by NB_ide)
But why, are you going to treat them differently depending on whether they turn out to be a Mr or Ms?

I might well do if I were, for instance, a doctor, a nurse, a lawyer, an outfitter, a shoe salesman, or a hairdresser.

[Chumbaniya]

(Original post by That Bearded Man)
In terms of identifying someone, yes it would

I think you misunderstood. My point is that if they're both female, "Mrs/Miss/Ms A Jones" is still ambiguous.

Names aren't unique identifiers for people. If you want to uniquely identify someone you'd need to use their passport number or NI number.

[tufc]

(Original post by najinaji)
I do have to wonder what harm it'd do us to get rid of gendered titles. They don't appear to serve much practical use, if I'm honest.

They might not serve a massive use, but they don't harm anyone.

[justmyopinions]

(Original post by Kazbian)
I've got no problem with a woman changing it. It's more that it's expected/tradition and a woman could be judged for not doing it. Why is it always the woman? I've never wanted to change my name and won't when I get married, and my children will receive my surname. I'm willing to double barrel if both me and my partner do it, and the child can receive that surname.

To say I shouldn't get married if I don't want to change my name is ridiculous. I can legally show my commitment to someone else without having to change my name thank you very much. And if the husband is that bothered about us having unity, then he can take my name, though I wouldn't expect him to. I'm quite happy us both keeping our names.

But why should he take your name and why should your children have your surname? By saying that you're completely contradicting your argument of male and female equality. Everyone knows men and women are equal but to make unisex alternatives for Mr or Mrs is just stupid and laughable. There's more important issues than this "issue" to be fair. Grow up and start worrying about things that matter, such as starvation in third world countries. This is just another first world problem that is completely irrelevant, I doubt you even lose sleep over it.
Furthermore, everyone knows male and females are equal. That fact that you want Uni-sex titles suggests that you believe females are somehow inferior, therefor you have to make an effort to say that they aren't. If you truly believed they were equal, which they are, you wouldn't be making such a fuss over something that doesn't really matter. Everyone is equal so get on with it.