Miss, Mrs., and Ms.: Control of Women Through Language
27 Jul 2004
by
Kirsten Anderberg
When you google the word "Miss," the first page includes entries such as Miss Universe, Miss World, Miss America, Miss 60, Miss Saigon…yet when you google "Mrs." Or "Ms.," you do not get any beauty pageant entries at all. As a matter of fact, instead of Miss Universe, you get Mrs. Field's cookies! At a right-wing Christian website called "Fathers for Life," a writer laments, "You can not refer to a woman by the color of her hair. You can not use Mrs. Or Miss. The indistinguishable Ms. is to replace both." It is interesting who wants gender neutral language and who doesn't. And why.
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