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Linda Duval doesn't like this.

in reply to Georgiana Brummell

I am the chairperson of an organisation and I'm not a chairman. You are more obsessed by your gramnar obsession than for the respect of the individuals. I am very certain that this should be the other way round.

At the end of the day, only humans use grammar. The use of grammar should focus on the respect of people.

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval No, but you very well could be a chairwoman. I'm not against changing the gender of a word when necessary to match the sex of the individual. Language exists for a reason and so do conventions. It would be quite strange if everyone call things according to his own idea of what they should be named.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

I am the chaiperson of my organisation literally. Why do I want to pigeonhole myself? The chairperson terminology is valid and inclusive. Why should the focus be gender centric and exclusive?

I certainly rebel to the patriarchal society and will identity myself as a person, not a gender.

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval There's nothing exclusive about simply saying what you are. It also makes things easier when people speak about you. It would make far more sense to say "I received a letter from the chairwoman yesterday and she told me" rather than "they told me". I am speaking about one person, not a group. What if you had a name that could be either male or female and I were writing to you? I could say "Dear Madam Chairwoman". Of course, I could also say "Dear Sir or Madam", but it's better to use a title. The former salutation is really if you don't know who will be receiving said letter. "Dear Linda" would be far too informal and quite disrespectful in a business context in any case.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

When people write to me, they simply use Dear Ms Duval or Dear Linda. Nobody has ever reported to me that they have struggled in finding an appropriate term.

Dear Sir or Madam are also acceptable when someone does not know the name of the person they are writing to. I would expect this to be rare since most people would make an effort to find out to whom they are writing to these days.

I sign my correspondence as Chair of (name of my organisation)

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval @lindaduval Yes. In your case, Miss, Mrs. etc. makes sense. But if you had a name that could go either way or that was truly uncommon, just knowing it wouldn't help the writer decide which title to use. Fortunately, as you said, in your case, it's not a problem.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Mrs is also an unacceptable term. There is no need for women to have to advertise whether they are married. There is only one term for men and it is Mr. Women should use Ms. Women really need to move on from the old Victorian patriarchal society that entrapped women into submission.

Again, if someone needs to write to the chaiperson of an organisation, the most respecful thing to do, would simply to find out to whom they are writing to.

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval @lindaduval To whom they are writing. The extra "to" is redundant. I don't agree with all of these leftist/feminist/man-hating ideas that I've seen from various people, but from a grammatical point of view, the part about Mr. and Ms. does make sense. Either both sexes should have such titles to indicate marriage or there should be a single one for each. But I'm not so radical that I would abandon the old ones, and I myself am a Miss, though at forty-one, I very well may be a Madam. haha
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

English is my 2nd language, so I stand corrected!

What is important is to recognise when language is used, or has been used to entrap women into 2nd class citizenship.

Being feminist is not the same as being man-haters. Being feminist is the force that empowers women to achieve equality.

Grammar and language, when used appropriately, is an additional tool that can help women ascend to equality.

By the way, I am enjoying this conversation very much!

in reply to Linda Duval

@lindaduval @lindaduval My sincere apologies. I always try to be gentle with non-native speakers. I must say, other than that tiny mistake, you write so well that I would never have guessed that English wasn't your first language! I am equal whether I subscribe to all of that or not. I don't need to be radical or to change the language in order to love myself, or to strive for the best, or to demand to be treated equally. I simply need to be, and I am.
in reply to Georgiana Brummell

Your preferences are yours and you choose what you prefer. However, we live in a society where it is important to be aware where language can be detrimental to women.

The difference can be simply felt in how much you get paid compared to a man in the same role. Please search "gender pay gap" and you will find that in the legal industry, for example, men can earn as much as 59% more than a woman in the same role.