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Why do female actors, previously known as actresses,


Guest tonyblair

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I s'pose if I'd been around when the word actress started to be used, to differentiate from the male actors, I'd have asked why do we need to have a different word for the females, they're all actors...

so... I'm happy the way things have developed, just curious about when and how something like that happens... it's almost a subconscious event.

Edited by feral chile
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PC can be a problem because words that had a specific meaning like lady or gentleman have also gone out of fashion.

To me not all men are gentlemen and not all women are ladies. It's a shame that both words have become derided.

If I use them it's meant in a complimentary way e.g. "He was a real gentleman" implying thoughtful, polite and considerate.

"He was a real man" conveys something quite different.

Edited by grumpyhack
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PC can be a problem because words that had a specific meaning like lady or gentleman have also gone out of fashion.

To me not all men are gentlemen and not all women are ladies. It's a shame that both words have become derided.

If I use them it's meant in a complimentary way e.g. "He was a real gentleman" implying thoughtful, polite and considerate.

"He was a real man" conveys something quite different.

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I tend to just say they were a really decent/sweet/nice person, though that's not to be deliberately gender neutral, I haven't really thought about it that much.

I think I have used the word gentle to describe someone's personality.

Gentleman and lady/gentlewoman to me denotes gentility/respectability rather than a gentle personality, though.

And the opposites (for me) would be loutish behaviour from a man (or caddish, underhand behaviour) and sluttish behaviour from a woman (in both senses of the word, perhaps).

But that might be just down to my advanced years. smile.png

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