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It's not inappropriate to use "actress" yet. But consider that we used to have the word "doctoress" to refer to a female doctor. Using that feels weird.
by Jabbles 6y ago
It's not inappropriate to use "actress" yet.
But consider that we used to have the word "doctoress" to refer to a female doctor. Using that feels weird.
- mensetmanusman 6y agoNever heard of the word doctoress...
- rsynnott 6y agoIt’s a real word, but archaic. For an even weirder example, see ‘priestess’. No-one ever refers to modern female priests as priestesses, but historians often refer to, say, female priests in Ancient Rome as priestesses. On the other hand, historians never use the term ‘doctress’ for archaic female doctors.
- Grustaf 6y agoSex is not very important for a doctor, for an actor is pretty much defines what roles you can play.
- jfk13 6y agoShakespeare might like a word... (Alternatively: then why don't we have separate words for black actors, white actors, native American actors, south-east Asian actors, transgender actors, and so on?)
- booleandilemma 6y agoBecause that would be ridiculous.
- mattigames 6y agoSo the path forward is to use "male actors" and "female actors" instead of actors and actresses? Doesn't appear to be a net positive for society, is just making them longer to write and pronounce.
- rsynnott 6y agoOr, just... actors? Like, most of the time when you talk about an actor the gender isn’t that relevant.
- mattigames 6y agoI disagree, it's extremely common to ask "what was the actress in that movie we just saw?" (so it's clear they are not asking about the male protagonist) or for awards "who you think is gonna be the best actress this year?" or for castings "what actress your think should be casted for the new remake of Romeo and Juliet?"
- rsynnott 6y ago“Who was that actress in Sex and the City?” This level of specificity probably only works for media in which there’s only one main female character.
- Grustaf 6y agoJust because it isn’t always enough doesn’t mean it’s useless. Cutting the search space in half by choosing a different word is pretty convenient.
- Grustaf 6y agoWhen you don't care or know about the gender, you do use the word "actor". Like "I thought all Hollywood actors were divas but you're so down to earth". You wouldn't say "actors and actresses", right? Sort of like "model". Most of the time you just say "model" and it could be either sex, but if you want to talk specifically about male models you say that.
- Grustaf 6y agoI am aware. And there are still contexts when all roles are played by male actors (and perhaps the opposite), but that is not really the point here. And we are talking about human language here, it's something that has evolved over centuries, to a large extent spontaneously. That's why we make some distinctions and not others that may seem equally important. If we were talking about a programming language your argument be more relevant, although I would still argue that sex is a much more dramatic difference than race.
- rsynnott 6y agoSo does height, in that if you’re 5’6 you won’t manage a very convincing Lincoln. But it’s not generally worked into the job name.
- yyyk 6y agoWhat was Othollo's height? Or Hamlet's? Does anyone care? Height isn't very important for 99% of roles.