Mr., Ms., and Mx.?
If you were born 100 years ago you may have been a bit thrown to see “Ms.” written for a woman’s title over “Miss” and “Mrs.” If that was already a lot for you, hold on because this new honorific shows no gender or status information at all!
Can You Guess What This Means?
“Mx.” like “Ms.” is pretty new. It was invented back in the 1970s but didn’t reach any popular use until the mid 1980s. While the more conservative among us may be thinking “gee whiz, this is another attempt at shoving queer-folk’s business down our throats,” don’t hold that thought. This honorific isn’t just for trans & other gender non-conforming people. It’s a part of modern language that allows the user to disregard their gender or marital status when introducing themselves. In a time where everyone sees things differently, it’s nice to be presented with a way to step back from the constant rush to place everything into neat little boxes.
While the “Mx.” honorific began as part of the feminist movement’s attempt to relieve people from having to highlight their gender in their title- potentially to avoid discrimination. It also leaves space for gender neutral and nonconforming people to have a title that fits their gender a lot better than the traditional “Mr.” or “Miss/Ms./Mrs.” might.
We finally have a new honorific that men can use too!
“Mx.” now joins the ranks with “Dr.” as being the only gender neutral honorifics.
The British are currently at the forefront of making the honorific mainstream. Here in America, we’re sorely a few steps behind. But, as we’ll probably be spending more time focusing on building up our Space Force now, I think we can be excused just a little.
In the UK, about .04% of their population identifies as gender non-binary, in America stats show transgender people (as I have no reliable stats for non-binary specifically) at about .03% of the US population. To give you a better picture this is roughly between the population size of San Jose, CA- the capital of Silicon Valley- and San Antonio, TX
skyline courtesy of commons.wikimedia photographer Tim Wilson
There are some domestic strides toward gender non-binary inclusion, however: on July 3rd last year “Oregon became the first state to approve the option to identify as neither male or female on their driver's licenses and state identification cards” by offering the option to have an “X” instead of “M” or “F” on those IDs. Since then, Washington state, New York, and California have each done the same.
While “Mx.” Is getting bigger in British society, I'd wager that this one of the most American things to happen to the English language in a very long time. “Mx.” stands as a way for people to distinguish themselves as people whose abilities and skills speak for themselves. It doesn’t require nor impose any nobility or status- pretentious or otherwise, and puts everyone on a level playing field. It challenges that gender, marital status, and profession may not matter. It highlights the person. It highlights the individual. The “Mx.” honorific drop of hope and beauty from the future that’s soon to come (and honestly has already been here since the Disco Era).
Just like everything else in modernity, development is exponential. The option to use “Ms.” existed in some places since the 1800s, but It wasn’t popular until a century later- after 1961. It’s been about 40 years since the conception “Mx.” It’s time to see it put to use.
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