"Are you a Miss, Mrs or Ms?"
Every time I get asked this question, I think to myself, 'What on earth does my marital status have to do with my car insurance/banking/buying a theatre ticket? Why do I have to justify whether I'm married or single, when men so easily get away with a simple 'Mr' whether they're married, single or otherwise?'
The worst part? The above is just one example. There are so many other examples in everyday language where gender differences and stereotypes are quick to be pointed out and sexism exists despite years of feminist movements and awareness-raising. Women have to contend with the likes of ‘slag’ and ‘slut’ or ‘spinster’, while men are referred to as ‘player’ and ‘bachelor’ (the quintessential single-and-totally-comfortable-with-it guy who never has to worry about the ‘biological clock’ - and don't even get me started on the bloody biological clock! The insane pressure put on women because of this so-called biological clock is ridiculous and, as far as I'm concerned, utter cr*p!).
I've also noticed, mainly in the red tops (or tabloids) that more often than not, women are referred to by their domestic status (for eg. “The wife of Prince William,” and, “Mother of Prince George,” or “The fiancée of Kanye West and mother-of-one…,” etc.) rather than what they may have achieved in life (which usually comes second or third in the list after who she's with and whether she has any other relationships) whilst men are referred to by what they've done in life (or, if they're famous, just who they are. Their name obviously speaks for themselves, whilst women's don't and there needs to be some mention of their various relationships in order to justify their existence - or so it seems to me anyway!)
And what is up with the term Male Nurse? Why not just Nurse? Why does it need to be specified that it's a man (doing a 'woman's job' maybe??) Then there's waitress, actress, air stewardess and tons more career words which call needless attention to gender. Thank goodness we don't still use 'lady doctor' - I heard that lots when I was growing up too and it always made me think, 'Why does it matter when it's a man or a lady? Do lady doctors medically treat people any differently?' In the same way, do waitresses serve people any differently to waiters? Or do actresses do their job any better or worse than actors? Does an air stewardess treat people any differently on a flight than a steward? You get the idea.
Every time I get asked this question, I think to myself, 'What on earth does my marital status have to do with my car insurance/banking/buying a theatre ticket? Why do I have to justify whether I'm married or single, when men so easily get away with a simple 'Mr' whether they're married, single or otherwise?'
The worst part? The above is just one example. There are so many other examples in everyday language where gender differences and stereotypes are quick to be pointed out and sexism exists despite years of feminist movements and awareness-raising. Women have to contend with the likes of ‘slag’ and ‘slut’ or ‘spinster’, while men are referred to as ‘player’ and ‘bachelor’ (the quintessential single-and-totally-comfortable-with-it guy who never has to worry about the ‘biological clock’ - and don't even get me started on the bloody biological clock! The insane pressure put on women because of this so-called biological clock is ridiculous and, as far as I'm concerned, utter cr*p!).
I've also noticed, mainly in the red tops (or tabloids) that more often than not, women are referred to by their domestic status (for eg. “The wife of Prince William,” and, “Mother of Prince George,” or “The fiancée of Kanye West and mother-of-one…,” etc.) rather than what they may have achieved in life (which usually comes second or third in the list after who she's with and whether she has any other relationships) whilst men are referred to by what they've done in life (or, if they're famous, just who they are. Their name obviously speaks for themselves, whilst women's don't and there needs to be some mention of their various relationships in order to justify their existence - or so it seems to me anyway!)
And what is up with the term Male Nurse? Why not just Nurse? Why does it need to be specified that it's a man (doing a 'woman's job' maybe??) Then there's waitress, actress, air stewardess and tons more career words which call needless attention to gender. Thank goodness we don't still use 'lady doctor' - I heard that lots when I was growing up too and it always made me think, 'Why does it matter when it's a man or a lady? Do lady doctors medically treat people any differently?' In the same way, do waitresses serve people any differently to waiters? Or do actresses do their job any better or worse than actors? Does an air stewardess treat people any differently on a flight than a steward? You get the idea.
There are so many more examples I could give. For example, why do only women change their surnames after marriage and not men, why the majority of drivers are 'him' (as in 'he can't bloody drive - oh, it's a woman. Makes sense'), why married couples are STILL referred to as 'Mr and Mrs [man's name and surname]' but I think I've made my point on that front!
Language reveals society's ideas, prejudices and stereotypes. If sexism is so firmly embedded in our everyday language,
and we are using it and taking it in without even thinking about it, can we
really expect major change in the treatment of women as equals? Is it our
powerful language which needs to change first and foremost to reflect a more
equal society? I think so. I think the sooner we throw out outdated language and bring in a reformed, gender neutral language that draws attention to people's work and legacy, not gender, the better. It is a challenge, yes, and things are slowly changing, but it still hasn't changed for good. Until we constantly question, engage and bring forth the idea of equality in language (thus, equality in society and societal thinking and approaches), our thoughts and expectations about gender roles and appropriate occupations and goals for sexes will remain as it is.
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