Usage and Understanding of Ms.

Wendy Nelson

May 28, 1998

Abstract

In the 1970’s, non-sexist language planners became concerned about the lack of equivalence between the female titles of address Miss and Mrs. as compared to the title for males, Mr. While Miss and Mrs. indicate marital status, any male can use the term of address Mr. In order to avoid labeling women according to their attachment to men, feminists began promoting the title Ms. as a term parallel to Mr. However, rather than become an equivalent term, today Ms. tends to label females according to their marital status. While some understand Ms. according to its intended definition, many define Ms. concerning "available" or "unavailable" status. The current study of 76 college students (40 females, 36 males) finds that knowledge of the term has not increased over time. Only 60 percent of males and females correctly identified the intended definition of Ms. 77 percent of men and 22 percent of women studied preferred not to use any title. Although positive connotations of Ms. exist, negative connotations still hinder use of the title by college females.

Introduction

Promoters of non-sexist language have pondered the obvious lack of parallelism between male and female terms of address for years. Feminists argue that the titles Miss and Mrs., which differentiate women according to marital status, continue to define women by their relationship to men (Blaubergs 1979). In order to give women an identity of their own which would not label them attached or unattached to a man, feminists began promoting Ms. as a female equivalent of Mr. during the 1970’s.

Baron (1986) reports that Ms. was not the first attempt made by language reformers to equalize titles of address. As early as 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton encouraged women to abandon both Miss and Mrs. and use only their first and last names (Baron 1986:166). Rather than eliminate terms, a language reformer in 1912 suggested the creation of additional titles. He recommended the invention of two new titles which would indicate married and unmarried status for men (Baron 1986:7). Fola La Follette proposed in 1914 the extension of Miss to include married women as well (Baron 1986:166). None of these solutions, however, had the widespread public acceptance that Ms. attained in the 1970’s. Recorded uses of Ms. date as far back as 1767, but it was not until the 1940’s and 50’s, when the business community began using Ms., that the title was recognized as a replacement for the titles Miss and Mrs. (Baron 1986:169).

Studies during and since the seventies have found that many people do not understand Ms. as a parallel term for Mr. Blaubergs (1979) reports that Ms. is often used only when a woman insists, or when a woman’s marital status is unknown. Ms. has also become a replacement for Miss. Instead of just meaning "female," Ms. means "single female." Since no such restrictions are placed on use of Mr. for men, Ms. has not become a parallel term. More recent studies (Carney & Hamilton 1991; Kelly 1998) reveal that about half those surveyed do not define Ms. as feminist language planners intended.

Research has also found that the title Ms. carries both negative and positive connotations, and therefore is not a neutral term. Dion (1987) found that the title Ms. elicits the stereotype of a career-oriented woman with below-average interpersonal skills. This stereotype could evoke either negative or positive connotations depending on the person and the context. Carney and Hamilton’s study (1991) found that while the titles Mrs. and Mr. were neutral terms, 25 percent of all their respondents had negative connotations for Ms. and Miss. Subjects used words like "old maid" and "against society" to connote Ms. and labels like "prissy" and "immature" to describe Miss.

My study looks at the current understanding, usage, and connotations of the term Ms. among college students. In a survey of seventy-six college students, I learned that many could not identify the intended definition of Ms. Few of the women surveyed used the title Ms. for themselves. Statistics about understanding and usage of Ms. have changed little from studies done during the 70’s and 80’s.

Methods

My subject pool included 76 college students (40 females, 36 males) enrolled in upper- division general education courses. Only three subjects recorded their age as over thirty, with 96 percent of respondents falling between the ages of twenty and twenty-five. Subjects were asked, in the form of a multiple choice question, who can use the title Ms. Options included: married women, single women, divorced women, lesbians¹, married women who keep their maiden names, widows, and any adult female. "Other" was another available option, though no one chose to fill it in. As a correct answer, subjects could either mark every choice that was given, or they could mark the box for "any adult female."

Second, the survey asked what kinds of connotations Ms. carries for the subject. Options varied from "very positive" to "very negative." Next, they were asked to indicate within the range of "very comfortable" to "very uncomfortable," how comfortable they feel about addressing someone using the title Ms. Last, subjects were asked to write in which title they use for themselves, and to explain why they prefer to use this particular title.

Results

Fifty-eight percent of respondents gave a correct² definition of Ms. Half of the males surveyed gave correct responses, while 65 percent of females answered correctly. Sixty-seven of the seventy-six people surveyed answered the question concerning their title preference. Of these respondents, 54 percent indicated a title they would use for themselves and 46 percent stated they prefer not to use any title for themselves. Of the women surveyed, 77 percent named Miss, Mrs., or Ms. as their chosen title, and 22 percent selected no title. Meanwhile, 23 percent of men expressed preference for Mr. and 77 percent preferred not to use a title.

Table 1.1 Knowledge of intended definition of Ms. by sex

A majority of women, 56 percent, chose to use the title Miss. Only 16 percent of women picked Ms., and 5 percent named Mrs. All of the females who failed to identify the intended definition of Ms. and answered the question about title preference chose to use the title Miss. Thirty-two percent of women gave an inaccurate definition of Ms. and chose the title Miss, while 24 percent of women knew the intended definition of Ms. but preferred to use Miss.

Table 1.2 Female title preference and knowledge of Ms.

Table 1.3 Male title preference and knowledge of Ms.

Discussion

Many of my subjects, 42 percent of the college students surveyed, do not understand Ms. in the way it was intended to be understood. Though they had the correct definition on the page in front of them, many still did not choose it. All of the subjects who defined Ms. incorrectly indicated that married women could not use the title. Only five of the thirty-two subjects who answered incorrectly stated that married women who keep their maiden names can use the title Ms. This indicates that many people understand Ms. not as an equivalent for Mr., but rather as another, more-specific way to classify women. Ms. classifies women as single or available in some way, through divorce or through widowhood or through never having married.

Kelly (1998) reports similar results in a study which surveyed high school and college students in Melbourne, Australia. Kelly states that "the introduction of Ms. has seen women being further distinguished on the basis of their relationship to men by being marked as either ‘never married’, ‘once married’, ‘still married’ together with additional semantic features of age, sexuality and social class" (Kelly 1998: 6). Although the initial purpose for introducing Ms. was equality in language, a still-sexist society has altered the intended meaning and created more ways to rank women according to their connections to men. Both mine and Kelly’s studies show that for much of the population, Ms. denotes unmarried or available status. Therefore, women who use the title Ms. may understand it as an equivalent for Mr., but others may perceive use of the term in a much different way.

Although 65 percent of the females I surveyed gave a correct definition of Ms., many of those who answered correctly still showed a misunderstanding of the term. When asked to explain why they chose to use the title Miss, four of the women who gave the correct meaning of Ms. yet chose to go by Miss said it was because they are young and unmarried. One woman wrote: "Ms. has implications of unrequired privacy. I am not ashamed that I am not married yet, at which time I would use Mrs. The Ms. title is for those who don’t want others to know their status." Other responses included that Ms. is "too formal," "out of date," and "appropriate to use if you do not know the (person’s) current marital status."

Women who chose the title Miss for themselves reported the most negative connotations of Ms., as well as the most uncomfortable feelings about addressing someone using the title Ms. Women who defined Ms. correctly and incorrectly were equally likely to have negative connotations of Ms., with about 30 percent of women in each group claiming "somewhat negative" connotations. A woman who claimed "somewhat negative" connotations of Ms., and who stated that single women, divorced women, and lesbians can use Ms., said she uses Miss, "because I am younger and I guess it seems that Ms. is for older people who don’t marry."

Many women who understood the intended meaning of the term Ms. consciously chose Miss over Ms. They said that they found the title Miss more socially acceptable than Ms. Although Carney and Hamilton’s (1991) study found both Miss and Ms. have an equal amount of negative connotations and Dion’s (1987) study reported that Ms. actually carries positive connotations of professionalism, most college females favored Miss. Traits like immaturity and prissiness may be more acceptable for college-aged females than qualities which imply going against society and being an "old maid."

Aside from women who use the title Miss, very few respondents (four total) reported any negative connotations of the title Ms. Since asking connotations and feelings about word use in the form of a survey asks people to self-report, the answers to these questions may not be representative of how people actually feel. Most likely, many more people surveyed have both positive and negative connotations of Ms. which went unreported, in addition to recognizably comfortable or uncomfortable feelings about Ms. that they reported as neutral. However, it is interesting that women who had to think more about the question and decide whether they would use Miss or Ms. reported more negative feelings about the word.

Table 1.4 Reported negative connotations of Ms.

Almost half of those I surveyed preferred not to use any title at all. Similarly, in Carney and Hamilton’s (1991) study, 47 percent of women and 59 percent of men preferred not to use a title. This could be a trend in today’s business world. Most respondents who preferred not to use a title said they would rather be informal or casual. One person wrote: "In (the) architectural field the atmosphere is very informal. We address each other and professors by first name." A few people recognized the contradictions in title use and chose not to use a title because they wanted equality in use of titles. One person stated: "Titles denote putting people in ‘boxes’ and those denote judgment. I would like to think people are equal." Perhaps some people who wish not to use titles see it like Elizabeth Cady Stanton did, as a route to eliminating sex bias (Baron 1986:166).

On the other hand, since all of the subjects in both my study and Carney and Hamilton’s study were college students, the reason why so many of those surveyed preferred not to use titles may be because they had not entered the work force yet. Perhaps since they are still in school, they had not yet felt the need to use a title of address. Gender breakdown is another important factor in assessing the large number of subjects who preferred not to use a title. While 77 percent of men said they did not use a title, only 22 percent of women said they did not. In examining these statistics, one could determine that because Ms. was mentioned earlier in the survey, females felt they had to choose between Miss and Ms. However, it also could mean that females perceive more of a need for titles. Females may recognize that they need to use a title in order to get adequate respect in certain instances, while males don’t anticipate this same need.

Table 1.5 Title preference by sex

Studies (Dion 1987) have concluded that women who use the title Ms. are perceived by both males and females as being more achievement-oriented, socially assertive and more dynamic. At the same time, women who use the title Ms. are also seen as having less "interpersonal warmth" and as fulfilling fewer "interpersonal goals." In a study of leadership and title (Anderson, Finn, & Leider 1981), Ms. proved more effective than Miss or Mrs. But, since I did not ask why respondent’s connotations were negative or positive, it is difficult to know if the 28 percent of people that had positive connotations of Ms. correlated the title with these qualities of assertiveness and achievement. Women who stated that they preferred to use Ms. did mention professionalism and age in reasons for using it as their title. In spite of the success Ms. has shown when used in professional settings, the title still lacks popularity. It is interesting that among female college students in upper division courses, who presumably will enter the work force soon, only 16 percent chose it as a title. It seems that uncertainty about the definition Ms., as well as the perceived negative connotations about Ms. override the positive connotations of Ms.

My study indicates that knowledge and usage of the title Ms. by college students has not increased over time. Results of my survey agree with past research that shows unparallel application of Mr. and Ms. It seems that in spite of attempts at creating non-sexist titles of address, a sexist society prevails. Considering the numerous suggestions made in the past to make titles equivalent, however, there may be another solution beyond Ms. Perhaps, as my data reflects, people are moving away from title use altogether. May be we can decide on one title of respect that works for any person. Bobbye Sorrels Persing suggested adoption of the title M (pronounced "em") to address either males or females (Blaubergs 1979). Whatever happens, we must acknowledge the unequivalence of male and female titles and recognize the problems with the current use of Ms.

Notes

1. Although aspects of sexuality are incorporated into perceived definitions of Ms. (Kelly 1998), I did not include a discussion of respondents who said lesbians could use the term Ms., because unlike the other categories, lesbianism does not relate directly to marital status and was difficult to compare with the rest of my results.

2. It is prescriptive to say that there is a correct definition of Ms., and certainly what I mean is the definition intended by non-sexist language planners. However, in order to more easily explain my results, I will refer to those who responded with the intended definition as giving the correct definition.

References

Anderson, L., Finn, M., & Leider, S. (1981). Leadership style and leader title. Psy- chology of Women Quarterly, 5:661-669.

Baron, D. (1986). Grammar and Gender. New York: Yale University Press.

Blaubergs, M. (1979). On the usage of Ms. Athens: University of Georgia.

Carney, A. and Hamilton, M. (1991). Ms.-conceptions: perceived denotations and

connotations of the title "Ms." Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the

Southeastern Psychological Association.

Dion, K. (1987). What’s in a title? The Ms. stereotype and images of women’s titles of address. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11:21-36.

Kelly, B. (1998). She’s married, she’s divorced, she’s old, she’s gay: Folklinguistic

attitudes to use of the address term "Ms." Paper presented at the Fifth Berkeley

Women and Language Conference.

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Prof. Johanna Rubba, English Dept., Cal Poly 756-2184.

Thank you for participating in this survey.

1. __ Male __ Female Age ____

2. Who can use the title Ms.(pronounced "mizz") for themselves?

(Please mark all that apply)

__ married women __ married women who keep their

__ single women maiden names

__ divorced women __ widows

__ lesbians __ any adult female

Other: ______________

3. What kinds of connotations does the title Ms. carry for you?

Very positive Positive Somewhat positive Neutral

Somewhat negative Negative Very negative

4. How comfortable do you feel addressing someone using the title Ms.?

Very comfortable Comfortable Somewhat comfortable Neutral Somewhat uncomfortable Uncomfortable Very uncomfortable

5. What title, if any, do you prefer to use for yourself? ____________

Why?