European Par bans use of 'Miss' & 'Mrs'

London, Mar 16: The European Parliament has prohibited the use of the terms 'Miss' and 'Mrs' in case they upset female MEPs.

According to a new 'Gender-Neutral Language' guidance, the politicians are required to address female members by their full name only.

It has also revealed that 'sportsmen' should be called 'athletes', 'statesmen' should be referred to as 'political leaders', and terms like 'synthetic' or 'artificial' should be used in place of 'man-made'.

The guidance lists has also banned terms for describing professions, including fireman, airhostess, headmaster, policeman, salesman, manageress, cinema usherette and male nurse.

However, according to the booklet, 'no gender-neutral term has been successfully proposed' to replace 'waiter' and 'waitress', allowing parliamentarians to use these words in a restaurant or cafe.

European Parliament's Secretary General Harold Romer distributed the booklet to 785 MEPs working in Brussels and Strasbourg

Struan Stevenson, a Scottish Conservative MEP, described the guidelines as "political correctness gone mad."

"We have seen the EU institutions try to ban the bagpipes and dictate the shape of bananas, but now they see determined to tell us which words we are entitled to use in our own language," the Telegraph quoted Stevenson as saying.

Philip Bradbourn, another Conservative MEP, called the booklet as a "waste of taxpayers' money".

"I will have no part of it. I will continue to use my own language and expressions, which I have used all my life, and will not be instructed by this institution or anyone else in these matters," he added.

The guidance has also banned the use of continental titles, such as Madame and Mademoiselle, Frau and Fraulein and Senora and Senorita.

ANI