A Woman’s Hour discussion over whether the titles Mrs and Miss should be abolished has sparked a fierce reaction online.
In today’s episode of the BBC Radio 4 show, host Anita Rani read out a female listener’s letter, in which she detailed why she disliked having to declare whether she was a Mrs or a Miss when buying flooring for her kitchen.
‘Does this go back to a time when husband’s operated the purse strings and dinosaurs ruled the earth. If so, in 2021, I would simply like to be Penny Bates without a Miss, Mrs or Ms’, listener Penny wrote.
University of Cambridge’s Dr Amy Erickson explained that all three titles were abbreviations of Mistress, before being used to showcase a woman’s marital status from the early 20th century.
Mrs is used when a woman is married, Miss is often reserved for singletons or young girls and Ms is for when the martial status of a female is unclear, said Dr Erickson – meanwhile men use Mr, with Master largely going out of fashion.
Many female listeners shared their outrage at having to pick between the titles, unlike men who don’t have to. However, some women insisted they liked using Mrs to show they were married and disliked being called ‘old fashioned’ because of it.
A Woman’s Hour discussion over whether the titles Mrs and Miss should be abolished has sparked a fierce reaction online (stock photo)
Stella Sutcliffe, Founder of the Go Title Free Campaign, also appeared on the programme to insist all the options should be abolished, with women instead referred to by just their name.
The discussion began after Penny Bates letter was revealed, in which the listener said: ‘I wonder if other women are irritated by the fact that they are asked to share their marital status when completing forms when ordering products.
‘Men can only ever be Mr whether married divorced or single, with Master no longer being in use, while I’m expected to explain my marital status when this is not significant to the transaction I wish to make.
‘I’m currently single, divorced some time ago, but when recently purchasing a new floor covering for the kitchen, it wasn’t enough to simply give my name Penny Bates, as soon as I did so I was asked if I was Mrs, Miss or Ms.
‘Is there a legal reason why women have to explain their marital status when making a purchase or does this go back to a time when husband’s operated the purse strings and dinosaurs ruled the earth.
‘If so, in 2021, I would simply like to be Penny Bates without a Miss, Mrs or Ms,’ she concluded.
Many female listeners shared their outrage at having to pick between the titles, unlike men who don’t have to
Dr Erickson explained that Miss and Mrs were previously used to distinguish a woman’s age, with the former being used for girls under a certain age, and the latter referring to women of status.
However, in the 1900s, an emphasis on marital status appeared and Ms was introduced shortly after as a solution to the problem of not knowing whether a woman was married.
Joining the programme, Go Title Free’s founder Stella recalled how she started her campaign three years ago after being furious at receiving a letter addressed to Mr and Mrs G Sutcliffe, the G being her husband.
She suggested she felt her identity was ‘entirely removed in this case’, but that without the title ‘no one could address me like this.’
However, some women insisted they liked using Mrs to show they were married and disliked being called ‘old fashioned’ because of it
‘I’ve suffered the confusion of titles, but this is something neither my father or ex-husband has gone through,’ she said.
‘I started with businesses [in my campaign] because titles are not used amongst friends or colleagues, but they’re mainly used by businesses to be polite.’ She added: ‘Say no title at all.’
The debate divided opinion online, with many sharing their outrage at having to use one of the titles on certain forms.
One person wrote: ‘My title is Dr – I worked hard to achieve it. It annoys me so much when my only choices when completing a form are Mrs, Miss or Ms. Should we abolish titles? Maybe, but I quite like being Dr!’
The debate divided opinion online, with many sharing their outrage at having to use one of the titles on certain forms
Another said: ‘I am irritated by the Ms, Miss, Mrs. title. Fortunately I am Dr so use this. I also like that it doesn’t disclose my gender.’
A third wrote on Twitter: ‘This is a massive bugbear for me …my bank insists I have a title on my account. Why?’
However, not everyone agreed with the idea of abolishing the Miss and Mrs titles, with one person saying: ‘I don’t want to give up my Mrs title and instead of having to tick – partner – on a form I want – husband.
‘I’m proud of being married and hate being told I’m old fashioned because of my feelings on this.’