Is it actor or actress???

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 9:49am

I just read the arcticle about this. I was told that for a few years the term has been generic. So when someone asks what I do I would say, I'm a actor, to which they would always respond "you mean actress? " So now I just say actress all the time :P

[MusicaleDiva]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:14am

WHile "actor" usually refers to a male and "actress" usually refers to a female, sometimes females can be referred to as "actors"... go figure.

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:17am

I'll take 'people without real problems' for $100, Alex.

[newyorkuniq]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:36am

ahhh trust me i know about real problems I just choose not to make them a topic lol........

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:40am

actor is NOT a gender specific term, applying to men and women alike. You do not have to use the term Actress unless in an awards category. :)

[NuggetMonkeys]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:48am

lets follow suit with the spanish language. :)
-d.b.j-

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 10:51am

I thought most places were using the term 'server' to sidestep this debate.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 11:15am

No John,


Dining Technician Specialist

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 11:21am

Well in my old Feminist days the arguement went: You don't refer to female medical personnel as a "Doctress" or a painter as a "Paintress" so why modify a word to denote a sexual reference? Unless you INTEND to diminish them with that conotation? u chavaunist pig! ( yeah we had a rep for a lack of humour!) I never liked the Chavaunist phrase prefered sexist- more specific!

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 11:28am

This issue is one of time. In 2004, the English language has done away with most gender specific denominations of words. However, some still exist. Whenever you make a gender specific word plural, you use the masculine version of it, unless every thing in the group is feminine (talking strictly grammatical here). Therefore, in terms of English, actor applies for plurals and for men. However, in 2004, we don't separate men and women like we used to (which I think is a good thing), therefore, the gramatically masculine term, now can be used for women. There's a technical answer to your question. A less technical one is, go tell those people that actually argue with you to go...(think AVENUE Q)

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 11:31am

Basically it's either "actor" for the whole group or more specifically "actress" or "actor" really I don't think you're going to offend anyone but the most extreme Political Correctamundos.

[MusicPos2]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 11:35am

Being a teacher, you learn that you can offend anyone anywhere, so you better cover your a**...Hehe. Seriously, I was teaching a lesson on belting, and I played "Popular." I had parents complaining about the "I'll teach you the proper ploys, when you talk to boys: little ways to flirt and flounce" part. Two other schools, the kids got to perform it...Go figure...

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 12:02pm

If you think about it, it is really the only profession that distinguishes gender. With the exception of Stewardess and Mail Lady. Even what are considered the more "traditional" female occupaions such as Nurse and Secretary are not gender spacific. So why not Actor? If NYU, who is obviously a female, tells people she is an ACTOR people will know she is a FEMALE actor.

[beacon1]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 1:19pm

And stewardess/stewards are now "flight attendants" and mailman/mail lady are now "mail carriers" or "postal clerks" if they are in the office.

Remember the old "riddle" about the father and son who are in a car accident. They are both hurt very badly and taken to the hospital for treatment. The little boy is wheeled into an operating room. The surgeon comes in, looks at him and says "I can't operate on this boy--he's my son."

This riddle really stumped some folks for a bit...the father and son were in the both accident and both severely injured. How could the boy be the surgeon's son?

The answer (unfortunately) surprised many: The surgeon was his mother. Amazing what assumptions we can leap to based on the culture of our time.

(Climbing down off her soapbox and re-insterting "POTO" in her Computer's CD drive)

Updated On: 6/15/04 at 01:19 PM

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 5:06pm

Several years ago, Whoopi Goldberg said "I am an actor. An actress can only play a woman. An actor can be anything."

Since I heard that, I've called myself an actor. I am not by any means offended by the term actress. Most of the time, I don't really see a reason to use it when the term actor is all-encompassing.

Eh, whatever.

[Plum]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 6:34pm

I was going to say that the reason the actor/actress terminology remains is because in that profession, gender actually matters. But FF sorta beat me to it, and put it in a better way. :)

[broadwaybondchik]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 6:36pm

Posts like this are okay, only because the board is boring today

[~FloweryFriend~]

Posted: 6/15/04 at 6:36pm

Thanks for the compliment, Plum, but I think you improved upon my post.

[secondactor]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 2:26pm

Actor, I think, is the safest way to go for both sexes.

Not to get into the whole possible demeaning gender-fication of it all, but would you say "plumberess", or 'singeress'?

[Plum]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 3:40pm

As I said before, if you're a plumber or a singer, your gender doesn't directly matter. (Yes, your gender influences your singing range, but that's why we have classifications like soprano, tenor, etc.) But when you're an actor, your gender directly affects your job. Most roles are written for one gender and can't be switched. Heck, lots of plays, movies, etc. are about gender. I'm not saying that actor/actress is the best terminology, but it does make sense. It isn't sexist at all.

[iruvyou]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 4:13pm

I don't really care if i'm called an actor or an actress. It never really bothered me before and i never felt i was being discriminated or anything for being called an actress it doesn't seem sexist (but that's my opinion)

[SamIAm]

Posted: 6/17/04 at 4:41pm

It was actor and actress, used by pretty much everyone. Then, someone decided that it was just too darned hard to tell the difference in genders apparently and started using the term 'actor' interchangeably to mean an actor OR an actress.

Ever since then, it's just been too confusing for me to figure out. Is it an ACTOR playing the role of Glinda or an ACTRESS? Beats me!