“The option Madame\/Mademoiselle means that a woman has to give an indication about her availability, in particular her sexual availability. A letterbox is not meant to be a dating agency…” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n It’s similar to the shift to Ms.<\/a> in the U.S.:<\/p>\n\n The use of Ms. as a title was conceived by Sheila Michaels in 1961… Michaels, who was illegitimate, and not adopted by her stepfather, had long grappled with finding a title which reflected her situation: not being owned by a father and not wishing to be owned by a husband… the title is now standard, especially in business — and where one may not know or find relevant the marital status of the woman so addressed. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n One feminist has a novel reason for the shift:<\/p>\n\n <<\/p>\n\n p>I think that’s a fine idea. As you hold a naked, wailing baby upside down and give her the welcome whack, you can say, ‘Pardonnez-moi, madame.’ <\/em>It’s the polite thing to do.<\/p>\n\n And why stop there? It is absolutely true<\/a> that women bear the burden of being marked as property. In fact, the full burkha of devout Muslims angles for complete sexual control, but almost every culture has milder restraints: the bindi, the sindoor<\/a>, the wedding ring.<\/p>\n\n I’m of a breed which dislikes wearing things on the skin. We live streamlined, unornamented and unscented. It’s not that I object to status markers, especially one so hard fought-for by women as the reciprocal, male wedding ring. It’s just that wearing rings bugs me.<\/p>\n\n But there are simple alternatives. Forget Ms., forget Madame, forget cell phone dating<\/a>. To avoid crossed wires, all you need is one good sticker.<\/p>\n\n Related posts: The Gender Gap<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" French feminists have begun agitating to ditch the title of ‘Mademoiselle’ (Miss) and call all women ‘Madame.’ A French organization called Les Chiennes de Garde (the Guard Dog Bitches) wrote: “The option Madame\/Mademoiselle means that a woman has to give … Continue reading \n
Emmanuele Peyret, wrote in the newspaper Lib\u00c3\u00a9ration<\/em> that “the insidious passage from Mademoiselle to Madame is so painful that we may as well begin by being called Madame straight away, in the cradle”. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n
![](\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/images\/Available.jpg\")
By a happy coincidence, the Hindu color of auspiciousness is also the color of traffic lights; the red bindi is also the signal for Stop, She’s Taken. So give me a green bindi to signal Single. Or for my lapel, the slide latch from an airplane loo, set to Available.<\/p>\n\n