Female Tory MPs go traditional

[Guest Warwick Green]

The Conservatives may count fewer women on their benches than past Liberal governments, but more Tory MPs call themselves "Mrs." than do women in any other party.

The Conservative caucus of 125 MPs has only 14 women in its ranks, and 10 of them use the traditional honorific for married women, according to transcripts of House of Commons proceedings and interviews. Four go by "Ms." in official House business.

Cabinet ministers Bev Oda, Diane Finley, and Rona Ambrose are typically referred to with the designation "Hon.," as is the custom for cabinet ministers. But when their names are read in the House during votes, they take "Ms." Ontario MP Helena Geurgis also goes by "Ms."

By comparison, the NDP and Liberals have a total of 33 elected women, but only seven of them have opted to use Mrs. ahead of their surnames....

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/s...5f-de7dda32d799

[justcrowing]

It's all about feministic brainwashing!! I am me and do not live under the shadow of a man so must be called "Ms" - funny how these same women will fight for the shadow of the male pocketbook when it comes to divorce - suddlenly independence disappears. Oh well!! I have my tin hat on so let the bullets fly.

[Hicksey]

It's all about feministic brainwashing!! I am me and do not live under the shadow of a man so must be called "Ms" - funny how these same women will fight for the shadow of the male pocketbook when it comes to divorce - suddlenly independence disappears. Oh well!! I have my tin hat on so let the bullets fly.

As usual, they want equality where it suits them but only there.

I'm all for equality, but than means equality everywhere. A woman that asks for more than half the assets gained during the marriage -- meaning they're asking for what the man had before the marriage -- is nothing but a gold digger.

[RB]

I will of course respect any woman who wish to exercise their preference usage of Ms or Mrs

I never liked the Mrs. and was always uncomfortable, luckily I don't have to be addressed this way any longer.

Not that it matters anymore, it was ironic that the university hyphenated my name and I adopted its usage but also they addressed me as Mrs hyphenated-name to my dismay.

I don't like Mrs usage because:

- First it is an extension of Mr

- Second means mistress and carries it own connotations

- Third it advertises as in the marketplace a marital state

- Fourth men are using women to promote their own name e.g. Mrs. Smith oppose to Ms. Smith

Few very socially conservative females in politics insist on using Mrs - but of course it dies in the business, just as Miss is dying

I mean if you want to encourage sexism

Mrs should have been for married men, that is their natural extension

Mr for single mean

Mses for married

Miss for single women

[August1991]

I was going to ignore this thread (what a dopey topic - surely Ottawa journalists have scandals to investigate, no?) but since RB has posted, I have to respond.

The traditional terms are:

Mr. Older man

Master Younger Man

Mrs. Married Woman

Miss Unmarried Woman

In French, Madame is used for an older woman (regardless of marital status) and Mademoiselle (My Damsel) for a younger woman. In Quebec, the designation Mad. (equivalent to Ms.) has never really caught on.

Different languages approach this issue differently and IMV, English is among the least cumbersome (and most egalitarian) of languages. In Japanese, so I am told, there are more than 10 ways to say "you", each referring to slight differences in the status of the speakers. Needless to say, women are referred to using less exalted designations. In Spain, anyone with a university degree immediately becomes "Dr." although I suspect more men do this than women.

In Russian, the revolution introduced the egalitarian "comrade" which is still used today.

I find it strange that women object to advertising their marital status through a designation but happily do so through a ring on a finger.

I am also intrigued by the choice of family name. (The media made an issue of this with Harper's wife. Nobody questioned Margaret Trudeau's choice, and I don't even know Paul Martin's wife's first name, let alone whether she is known as Mrs. Paul Martin.) If a woman chooses not to adopt her husband's family name after the wedding, then she will default to her father's family name. IOW, there is still a patriarchy. (BTW, in Quebec, a woman cannot legally take her husband's family name even if she wants to.)

And given this thread's interesting but ultimately superficial regard for social convention, let me provide a link to a fascinating article about sexism in the real world: Oh, no: It's a girl! Do daughters cause divorce?

[Canuck E Stan]

Nobody questioned Margaret Trudeau's choice,

On seeing Margaret Sinclair-Trudeau-Kemper lately doing her "I had bi-polar disorder" in the news a few weeks back,I had to question why she was using "Trudeau" as her name and not her maiden name, or Kemper. Having five kids(three with Trudeau and two with Kemper) I thought it was rather unfair for the "Kemper" kids to be disassociated with "Margaret Trudeau", while her talks about bi-polar was all about her "Trudeau" days, and there was no mention of bi-polar as a "Kemper". Seems she likes the Trudeau moniker because she wants to stay in the public eye.I think she should have gone with her maiden name Sinclair.

While on the subject of Trudeau's children,is his daughter(by the Newfoundland lawyer)using the Trudeau name?