Time for some poll spam.

[obeliamedusa]

This is an article about calling women "ma'am."  I thought it was interesting, because I know there are a variety of feelings on the subject among my female acquaintances, but I've always liked being called "ma'am"!  Makes me feel important.  >:-D  Also, I was very pleased by the Star Trek: Voyager reference in the article.  Yay, Captain Janeway

Comments

[grace_poppy]

I guess it must be a geographical thing, because as a southern gal I've been called ma'am since I was a teenager. It doesn't really imply a particular age or marital status for me, but just "you're an adult female." (And actually when we were kids, my Canadian mom would say "No ma'am!" and "No sir!" to us when we were being bad.) I'd rather be called ma'am than have people try to guess my marital status and call me "miss" or "misses." (Though I would never take offense at that either.)

I also sometimes say "yes ma'am" to my friends, just for fun. But I once said it to an older German friend and she rolled her eyes in irritation. I guess she felt like I was being condescending or something. Oops!

When I lived in northern England, it seemed like people used "miss" as an equivalent, which seemed kind of odd when applied to married women. I heard it used by kids for teachers or other adult women, especially ones whose names they didn't know.