The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #125221 Message #2773834
Posted By: Monique
25-Nov-09 - 08:45 PM
Thread Name: BS: Usage: -ess suffix for female operatives
Subject: RE: BS: Usage: -ess suffix for female operatives
Yes, Guest Watcher, French feminists do get bothered and insist on job titles being "le" if male and "la" if female, the main example being ministers being called "Madame la Ministre" and not "Madame le Ministre", "ministre" having been a masculine-only word so far because ministers had always been men until recently; the weirdest being "maire" (mayor) because when we say "le maire" everybody knows what we're talking about while "la maire" (female mayor), "la mère" (the mother) and "la mer" (the sea) sound alike but usually the context allows to sort it out.