'Call female teachers SIR'

py2006 · 14-05-2014 09:53AM #1

'Call female teachers SIR', demand feminist academics in bid to end 'sexist' culture in the classroom

Did/Would you refer to your female teacher (or lecturer) as Sir and not Miss? According to this article it is demeaning to women.

Terms such as ‘Sir’ and ‘Miss’ risked reinforcing the message that ‘women are lesser beings to men’.

I don't think people use Sir or Miss at third level, isn't it usually the first name? However, I always thought 'Sir' was a masculine term? Why would some female teachers want to be called 'Sir'? I remember in school I always objected to the term as I didn't believe they deserved it. It was always Mr or Mrs Whatever.

Is it really now an offensive term? The article suggests referring to them by their first name as an alternative which is fine but I think I would have gotten in trouble in school for calling my teacher by their first name.

Boombastic · 14-05-2014 09:57AM

py2006 wrote: »

'Call female teachers SIR', demand feminist academics in bid to end 'sexist' culture in the classroom

Did/Would you refer to your female teacher (or lecturer) as Sir and not Miss? According to this article it is demeaning to women.

I don't think people use Sir or Miss at third level, isn't it usually the first name? However, I always thought 'Sir' was a masculine term? Why would some female teachers want to be called 'Sir'? I remember in school I always objected to the term as I didn't believe they deserved it. It was always Mr or Mrs Whatever.

Is it really now an offensive term? The article suggests referring to them by their first name as an alternative which is fine but I think I would have gotten in trouble in school for calling my teacher by their first name.

we run the males off the females and the females off the males and we save over 200 pounds a year

some students have called me 'mammy' , what's their game?

14-05-2014 09:57AM

We did first names in 6th year.
Some teachers didn't like miss. "I'm not a miss, I'm married"
Ma'am seems to be a neutral one though we normally don't use it here at all

o1s1n · 14-05-2014 09:59AM

py2006 wrote: »

I remember in school I always objected to the term as I didn't believe they deserved it. It was always Mr or Mrs Whatever.

And why didn't they 'deserve' it?

py2006 · 14-05-2014 09:59AM

I am not sure 5 and 6 year old boys and girls referring to their teacher as Miss or Ms or Mrs is them seeing their teacher in a lesser light.

py2006 · 14-05-2014 10:00AM

o1s1n wrote: »

And why didn't they 'deserve' it?

They weren't knighted :P At an early age I saw it as dated. It wasn't required or anything, just for some reason some students used it. I just didn't like using it.

Un Croissant · 14-05-2014 10:03AM

Christ above.

IK09 · 14-05-2014 10:03AM

I have nothing against women at all, but when i hear feminists spouting their shíte I cant help but cringe.

It really makes me want to troll them. I cant help but be a "sexist pig" when theyre around.

I think this thread should be about ways to troll feminists.

WoollyRedHat · 14-05-2014 10:05AM

I think we should return to the use of titles associated with the medieival ages.

So when refering to either male or female, the student must refer to them as either "My*(M') lord *bows, and my(M') lady *curtsies*.

Students will be referred to as squires, and the principal as the Wizard.. if ever you are in trouble, you will be sent to see the Wizard.

ETA: As poster IK09 has rightly pointed out, the use of My may only be used by the intellectually superior or those imagined as such, so the likes of Clongoeians may use My, but the local ruffians such as St. Michaels of Dublin must use M'Lord. Use as applicable. If there is any confusion as to your breed, ask a neighbour or look in the mirror.

mathie · 14-05-2014 10:10AM

We used to call one female teacher "Sir" in our school but that was because she was beef to the heels and had a bad teenage moustache.

IK09 · 14-05-2014 10:11AM

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

I think we should return to the use of titles associated with the medieival ages.

So when refering to either male or female, the student must refer to them as either "My(Ma) lord *bows, and my(Ma) lady *curtsies*.

Students will be referred to as squires, and the principal as the Wizard.. if ever you are in trouble, you will be sent to see the Wizard.

"My lord" is said by high born folk, "M'Lord" is said by the peasants.

dodderangler · 14-05-2014 10:12AM

I had a teacher who insisted we call her Madame because it's degrading to call a woman 'miss'.

The Backwards Man · 14-05-2014 10:13AM

If that isn't a Daily Mail link I'll eat my hat.

cloud493 · 14-05-2014 10:14AM

If I was a woman being referred to as 'sir' I'd take it as an insult sure.

Kaycee2 · 14-05-2014 10:14AM

Sounds a bit regimental, we called them Mrs. or Mr, we were never allowed to call them by their first names, I can't remember ever knowing any of their first names

py2006 · 14-05-2014 10:15AM

cloud493 wrote: »

If I was a woman being referred to as 'sir' I'd take it as an insult sure.

I could be wrong, but on Star Trek The Next Generation don't they refer to all officers as Sir?

So its gonna happen in the future anyway like

14-05-2014 10:17AM

Sir implies greater authority than Miss, and doesn't refer to marital status as a form of address. The use of Miss uses marital status to define a persons overall status, Sir doesn't. It's outdated, although I've no idea what the alternative is.

Sir definitely sounds more authoritative than Miss, we (some of us) call bosses Sir, but a female boss is never 'just' Miss.

WoollyRedHat · 14-05-2014 10:17AM

IK09 wrote: »

"My lord" is said by high born folk, "M'Lord" is said by the pheasants.

Of course, thank you, I knew there was a cultural distinction, I have edited my post to note the need for distinction of forms.

14-05-2014 10:18AM

IK09 wrote: »

"My lord" is said by high born folk, "M'Lord" is said by the pheasants.

Talking pheasants?

Well, la di da!

dodderangler · 14-05-2014 10:19AM

Candie wrote: »

Talking pheasants?

Well, la di da!

B0llox you got there before me!!!!

Uriel. · 14-05-2014 10:20AM

Back in school we used to call some of the female teachers sir just too piss them off. It gloriously worked too.

My how the world changes.

anncoates · 14-05-2014 10:23AM

Is Sir not quite anachronistic now? Makes me think of Billy Bunter or Just William.

We called male teachers, Mr and female, Miss.

Skeleton XIII · 14-05-2014 10:23AM

IK09 wrote: »

"My lord" is said by high born folk, "M'Lord" is said by the pheasants.

To hell with the highborn, pheasants can speak! That's amazing!

Kaycee2 · 14-05-2014 10:24AM

dodderangler wrote: »

I had a teacher who insisted we call her Madame because it's degrading to call a woman 'miss'.

I can imagine her making you curtesy aswell

anncoates · 14-05-2014 10:27AM

dodderangler wrote: »

I had a teacher who insisted we call her Madame because it's degrading to call a woman 'miss'.

I'm imagining a sexy dominatrix type , french teacher.

The reality was probably the complete opposite.

diveout · 14-05-2014 10:28AM

Americans often address each other by Sir or Ma'am when there is a formal relationship or they don't know each other. It's a courtesy.

Boombastic · 14-05-2014 10:29AM

here's the full article

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6427726

Antar Bolaeisk · 14-05-2014 10:40AM

IK09 wrote: »

"My lord" is said by high born folk, "M'Lord" is said by the pheasants.

Them's highly edumicated pheasants M'Lud.

Azwaldo55 · 14-05-2014 10:43AM

Utterly ridiculous nonsense.

Renegade Mechanic · 14-05-2014 10:45AM

Really? Really?
Any female teachers about? Wanna hear what they actually think of this.

thehouses · 14-05-2014 10:46AM

Honestly, some of them probably should be called sir... But in all seriousness these "feminist academics" should go back to the kitchen and do something worthwhile rather than try and create publicity for their mumbo jumbo.

'Call female teachers SIR'

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