When Mrs. Meant Business

The unexpected history of how Mrs. became the official title for married women.

Sources:

Join Cristen to get down to the business of being a woman and all the Stuff Mom Never Told You about bodies, boys and the female brain.

[MrYang]

Someone needs to make a gif of that Mind-blown reenactment

[alexius]

In the words of Harry Truman...The only thing new in the World is the history you don't know ".

[tetsubo]

I can remember being called 'Master' when I was a minor. It is somewhat archaic.

Which shows the twisted dynamic between Alfred/Batman. Alfred continues to call him 'Master Bruce'. Alfred still considers him a child. Batman is in essence a dark version of Peter Pan, the Boy That Never Grew Up. Or got therapy.

[CluelessStacey]

Your content is always so interesting.

[a.m.p.m.]

In the UK, I was surprised to find that little boys are referred to as "master."  Titles are used a lot more in printed forms (like on credit and debit cards), and I had to ask for explanation when my 2 week old son received mail with the title of "master."  Apparently, that's for boys, and when they grow up, then they get to become 'mister, ' a little like 'miss' and 'mrs.' were initially.

[shentianwen]

I once had someone tell me that they thought I was a "Miss" because "Mr." was only for married men. Haha. I didn't laugh at them though; English wasn't their first language.

[joenatsuko]

I'm grateful there are subtitles for this - cause I just can't tell the difference between Ms and Miss just by hearing.

[technicolormind]

To people wondering about Mrs as perhaps being a derivative of Mr, please remember that Mrs was for Mistress, not Missus as it is used now. That's why there is an 'r' in the abbreviation. Mister and Mistress are the "same" words but have different genders as do many other words in the English language, although not as many as in most other languages. Master -> Mister and Miss -> Mistress used to be used to denote the age of the person.

[MonicaElysia]

This was really cool, and helped me understand the differences in culture and identification in 18 century and 17th century books! Thank you!

[LungsOutJem]

The eye crossing while mind blowing made me laugh. :D

[sherryhughes]

kinda of topic, but i noticed that when i do something a man would have done (based on what has happened ) like telling jokes, being playful. im hated for it, or just simple shot down. but whenever a male freind of my does it, they r approved. ex i made a joke, when a male freind im told im being lame a male made the same joke ppl thought it was hilarious. I act almost excatly like my one of my male freinds and he gets praised while im being yelled at.i get good grades no one does anything he gets good grades, he is allowed to go to a private school. i might just b being paranoid 😕

[KF]

I love how short yet informative your videos are!

[taytaymarie]

Cristen, I have an IUD (mirena) and don't haven't had a visible period in 3 years. These days everyone is all about the bleed, and I'm over here not bleeding at all! I feel a little disconnected from my womanhood and I don't know when my cycle is anymore. Could you do a video on IUD's? Love your videos keep up the good work :)

[AcheronJama]

Say Kathy Henry married John Smith she would become Mrs John Smith. This is why I hate the Mrs thing because it like shes being erased because Mrs John Smith like saying the wife of John smith is label enough and a name is no longer necessary.

[billsnorth]

Well...when I was a minor my relatives (as a boy) sent letters titling 'Master which meant I also as a boy held a 'single/juvenile ' status. thanks I subbed a while back cos things you present are relivent. Psst, I watch also to gain insight into my own young adult kids & god- daughter who is 16. Pretty much complicated..or let's say your tunes are a decent touchstone. ☆

[Remnants_]

after I turned 18 all my 'official' mail (like bank stuff, ect) started addressing me as Mrs. I was very confused & slightly offended feeling like they were making me grow up more. haha.

[Sharptooth]

Cristen, you're amazing <3 Your song made my day.

[FuzevSponge]

That rift of single ladies at the end was awesome :D

[Sunbunny-pd]

Could you please talk about the different forms of contraception available in the market? Ily

[janpeternelj]

Well in slovene you also have two versions for men. Gospod for mister and gospodič for unmarried men or boys. But the second form is getting archaic so there is that.