Good morning, Gentlemen. October 7, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in feminism, societal commentary.Tags: feminism, honorifics
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Almost as soon as I got to work this morning, I was pulled into a conference call. I was rather amused because, after everyone on our end of the call was introduced, the person immediately responded with a, “Good morning, gentlemen.” The other people in the room with me laughed a bit. I smiled, and in one of my moments of goofiness, attempted to muster a bright, cheerful (and somewhat high-pitched), “Good morning!”
I suppose I could have been annoyed at the assumption that all of the people in the room were men, but that didn’t seem right. After all, this person could not see who was on the other end of the line. Aside from that, there was an apology afterward for not realizing there was a “young lady” in the room (although that was amusing as both of those terms are relative, too).
I just tried to imagine it was like the Star Trek universe…if everyone were called, “Sir,” I don’t suppose I would be bothered if I were addressed that way, as well. And it sure beats being called, “Miss.”
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I can’t help but be reminded of the meme “All your base are belong to us”
But that is pretty funny. At least they realised their mistake quickly.
Good for you – for remaining civil! I would have been tempted to reply with a cheery, “Good morning, Ladies.” I’m sure you’ve had a lot of practice maintaining your cool.
Back in the stone age (early 1950s), we were taught to start business letters to unknown recipients with “Dear Sir(s)” – which I haven’t done in years. I much prefer “Ladies and Gentlemen”. They are not really dear to me and I cannot divine sex. (I’ll take a chance on their being civilized.)
In delivering four airplanes to an airport (circa 1980), as lead pilot I called in to ask if the tower wished to advise us as a flight of four (in which case they would communicate only with me) or as four individuals. They chose “individual” so we each called the tower to check in. When we finished, there was a pause before the tower came back with, “I only heard three check-ins.” As you can guess, the controller wasn’t paying close attention to the (similar) N numbers or (differences in) voices and thought there was only one woman in the flight. I really wasn’t daft enough to check in twice!