According to this performance by the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0OpUfi26U), Macbeth is properly called "Mr. The Scottish Play" (at 0:26) and his wife is "Mrs. The Scottish Play" (at 8:59). By the way, Mrs. The Scottish Play is portrayed by a male sock, as evidenced by the statement "and so is he" in the introduction to the play.

:-)

I've read through this entire thread, and I am in agreement with Stilly River Sage. For the most part, where there is a male/female distinction in a job title, it's unnecessary and it is a way in which some males attempt to diminish or discredit the female's credentials and abilities.

However, I think that peerage titles are another matter; for the sake of tradition, I would not want to see them messed with.

A while back, Ebbie asked, "In what way can 'nurse' be said to be gender specific?" I think the answer is obvious: the origin of the word has to do with breast-feeding! According to Merriam-Webster online, the etymology is: Middle English norice, norce, nurse, or nurshen (to suckle or nourish), from Anglo-French nurice, from Late Latin nutricia, from Latin, feminine of nutricius nourishing — more at nutritious. A "wet nuse" suckles another woman's baby; a "dry nurse" cares for another woman's child but does not breasst-feed it. Given the word's origins, I can see why a male might object to being called a "nurse" or a "male nurse", though the latter term seems to be used more and more commonly. Apparently, no one has come up with a satisfactory non-gender-related term yet (not one that I can find using Google, anyway).

Question: If a female actor is an actress, shouldn't a female manager be a managress rather than a "managEress"? (or would people tend to pronounce the "g" like it is in "progress"?) "Man-a-jer-RESS" seems unnecessarily long and awkward to me. As others have said, here in the US she would simply be called a "manager".

By the way, I am a co-chair of a volunteer organization locally -- not a co-chairwoman or a co-chairperson.