How about the salutation box? Your choices are Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs. Again, I have often checked all the female options. If you're a man, checking that box tells no one anything. As a woman, checking Miss says, "I'm single." Checking Ms. says, "I'm hanging onto my own identity." Checking Mrs. says, "I'm married." This is way too much information for a woman to provide when a man only has to check Mister.
I must write Miss Manners because I am very confused about the use of the term, "Mrs." My simple, but adequate, education taught me that the term literally meant "wife of..." So in those terms, this would be right:
Mrs. John Smith, (wife of John Smith)
Mrs. John Smith, (widow of John Smith)
This would be wrong:
Mrs. Susan Smith (Is she married to herself?)
Mrs. Smith (when she and John divorced eons ago.)
During our years of living with the oldies, there were two Mrs. Romans in this house and we both carried the title with pride. Callers were often confused but we got a giggle out of it. The Belle used to inspect me before a big event for the husband and say, "Remember, you are Mrs. Roman."
I won't even tell you how much I hate those boxes where you have to declare your age bracket.
1 comment:
I so agree! Although now I am even more confused with the whole Ms. Miss. & Mrs. thing!
I get my feathers ruffled with the race questions. Being married to a Mexican American and having children is a whole other issue. Did you know you can check African American, Asian, Bi-Racial (Caucasion-African American) Hispanic, or Caucasion (NOT OF HISPANIC ORIGIN). Seriously. My daughters are Caucasion/ Hispanic. We have had people say, well, you are suppose to put Hispanic because the father is Hispanic. Sorry, but I think they have just as much of my genetic background as his. The girls check Caucasion sometimes, Hispanic sometimes, and they have even checked both or made their own column. I feel for all people that are mixed with their races having to feel, where is my column? Tell me what difference does it make and why do they need to identify everyone with a race? Why not ask me my eye color, weight & height too? It shouldn't matter.
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