I've just been prompted to select a title from a dropdown menu
- Mr
- Mrs
- Miss
- Ms
- Mx
- Dr
- Sir
- Rev
Hmmm. We're accustomed to the three-way distinction for women, and I sympathise with those who dislike having that choice thrust upon them. I don't like having to select a title either, but at least I don't have to make a statement of my politics beyond "I'm not rebelling against your silly Form".
But WTF is "Mx"? Is that meant to be some unisex title, or is it all about the divergence of modern fashion from biology? Do I select it because I'd prefer a non-discriminatory unisex world? But then, what if it means something completely different that I've just never heard of?
"Dr" I'm OK with (but no Prof.?) Rev I can laugh at, and faintly wonder whether it shouldn't have counterparts from other religious orders. But "Sir" surely begs the question not merely of "Lady" but of so many other archaic honourifics.
Why the **** do we need titles in the first place? And if we are to have them, why do we get an arbitrary menu, as opposed to a free choice.
-- your Most Venerable and Vexed Honourary Uncle.