Definition: Miss, young/unmarried woman
Bonsoir, Mademoiselle - Good evening, Miss.
The French title Mademoiselle, literally "My young lady," has long been used to distinguish between women, whether due to their age or marital status. Shopkeepers and bank clerks, for example, always greet female customers with a polite Bonjour, Mademoiselle or Bonjour, Madame, and so have to make a quick assessment of the woman's age in order to choose the correct term. Likewise, on administrative forms, women have to indicate their marital status by checking either Mlle or Mme in front of their names.
For any number of reasons,* many people find the term Mademoiselle unnecessary or even offensive, and as of 1st January 2012, the town of Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne) has removed it from all administrative forms. (The city of Rennes was the first to drop Mademoiselle, in 2008, but that made much less of a splash since it was not accompanied by today's national campaign.)
On 21 February 2012, Prime Minister François Fillon decreed that the term Mademoiselle was to be removed from all administrative documents: Madame will be used for women of any age and marital status. Likewise, the terms nom de jeune fille (maiden name) and nom d'épouse (married name) must be replaced by nom de famille and nom d'usage, respectively. It remains to be seen whether the private sector will follow.
Decree: Circulaire du 21 février 2012 - download PDF
(Interestingly, there was once a masculine equivalent to demoiselle: damoiseau, but for some reason Mondamoiseau never really caught on as a title.)
*You can read more about the campaign against Mademoiselle and share your thoughts on my blog, but here is a brief résumé of some of the arguments: This distinction does not exist for men, so why should it for women? Why does a woman's age and/or marital status matter when a man's doesn't? Demoiselle refers to not just a young, unmarried woman, but also, by extension, a virgin - another bit of personal information that women might not necessarily feel like sharing with the whole world.
(click the little graphic below to hear Mademoiselle pronounced)
Bonsoir, Mademoiselle - Good evening, Miss.
The French title Mademoiselle, literally "My young lady," has long been used to distinguish between women, whether due to their age or marital status. Shopkeepers and bank clerks, for example, always greet female customers with a polite Bonjour, Mademoiselle or Bonjour, Madame, and so have to make a quick assessment of the woman's age in order to choose the correct term. Likewise, on administrative forms, women have to indicate their marital status by checking either Mlle or Mme in front of their names.
For any number of reasons,* many people find the term Mademoiselle unnecessary or even offensive, and as of 1st January 2012, the town of Cesson-Sévigné (Ille-et-Vilaine, Bretagne) has removed it from all administrative forms. (The city of Rennes was the first to drop Mademoiselle, in 2008, but that made much less of a splash since it was not accompanied by today's national campaign.)
On 21 February 2012, Prime Minister François Fillon decreed that the term Mademoiselle was to be removed from all administrative documents: Madame will be used for women of any age and marital status. Likewise, the terms nom de jeune fille (maiden name) and nom d'épouse (married name) must be replaced by nom de famille and nom d'usage, respectively. It remains to be seen whether the private sector will follow.
Decree: Circulaire du 21 février 2012 - download PDF
(Interestingly, there was once a masculine equivalent to demoiselle: damoiseau, but for some reason Mondamoiseau never really caught on as a title.)
*You can read more about the campaign against Mademoiselle and share your thoughts on my blog, but here is a brief résumé of some of the arguments: This distinction does not exist for men, so why should it for women? Why does a woman's age and/or marital status matter when a man's doesn't? Demoiselle refers to not just a young, unmarried woman, but also, by extension, a virgin - another bit of personal information that women might not necessarily feel like sharing with the whole world.
(click the little graphic below to hear Mademoiselle pronounced)
Pronunciation: [mahd mwa zehl]Audio Link
