Trying to sort out the Miss/Mrs/Ms conundrum.

Whalie

If I have to choose then I put Ms. I have never married but I often get correspondence addressed to Mrs using my birth name. I always think of Miss as being young and using it while older does not seem to fit! My choice is no title but as said by others, this is not always accepted!

Cubicsrube

Bold proposal: all officialdom and companies should standardise on 'Mr' and 'Ms' - or better still, get rid of honorifics entirely and so start addressing adult humans as just that.

Keep sex as a data point in medicine obviously but there its too important to be extrapolated from someone's title anyway. I can't think of anywhere else that gender, let alone marital status, is relevant and not already captured more reliably another way.

I humbly submit that this modest proposal would save untold headaches and admin and probably money.

Bzzzz

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82003356#Comment_82003356

I'm single but always use Mrs if I have to use a title. It seems that now days Mrs is more used as an adult title than marital status. I've come across several women who are not married but use Mrs.

KittenChops

I took my husband's surname when we got married - purely because I much preferred it to my maiden name - and I use Mrs as my title (but I would have no problem with Ms)

What really winds me up is if I am referred to as Mrs husband's-first-name surname. I am not that person thank you very much - I think it sounds incredibly old fashioned & even a bit like I am some sort of chattel & not a person in my own right. I also hate receiving a Christmas card (for example) where the envelope is addressed to "Mr & Mrs husband's-first-name surname" - which only really happens if my mother in law writes it - I haven't quite got the message through to her yet. The suggestion of addressing it to "Mrs & Mr wife's-first-name surname" is my next move! (In fact I might use that for my parents-in-law this Christmas & see if she notices!)

EnPointe

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82002807#Comment_82002807

a Medical Practitoner in the UK and commonwelath and indeed in some European states does not hold a Doctorate

a Doctorate is a third Cycle Bologna Qualification and a MBBS / MbChB despite being styled as a Dual Bachelors is a NQF Level 7 / Second Bologna Cycle qualification

Spendless

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82020490#Comment_82020490

Who refers to you that way? Though it is officially correct, it's not very common nowadays, unless you are moving in very elite circles?

Your MIL is probably very 'old school' and remembers that is the way she was taught to address correspondance in typing classes and isnt doing it to annoy you - unless you suspect otherwise of course.

KittenChops

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82023812#Comment_82023812

Ha-ha! Not in elite circles!
And yes, it is most likely just an age thing with my MIL who's not doing it to annoy me, but also can't understand why it might annoy me

(If that's all I've got to worry about…!)

NBLondon

On the subject of Dr… Italians use Dottore as a title of respect to anyone with a degree in almost any field and tiles like Avvocato (Law) or Architetto (guess what…) if you have professional qualifications in that field. So m'wife (MSc in the UK) is Dottoressa if she wants to be and I (BSc) can be Dottore if I want to be but I prefer Ingegnere.

kermchem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82027234#Comment_82027234

The Dutch equivalent is "Doctorandus" (Latin for "Doctor to be") for anyone with a first degree in most science and social science subjects, and different titles for Engineering, Law etc. graduates. But, to get back to the thread title, there is also the title "Doctoranda" for female graduates. Even 30 years ago this was almost unheard of to be used.

krikri

I go with "Mrs" as do almost all my friends. "Ms" sounds odd IMO/ These days amongst adult women "Mrs" does not neccissarilly mean married.

One person I know used "Ms" for a while but gave up as people always called her "Mrs" anyway. She got fed up with fighting it!