# Is The Word "Actress" Sexist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290 "2010-01-24T23:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/1 "2010-01-24T23:20:08Z")
Was watching the SAG Awards yesterday and noticed how they would never, ever say the word “actress”. Best Supporting Female Actor, or Best Female Actor. Both men and women “act”, but is calling men “actors” and women “actresses” demeaning somehow? Nobody is saying actors are better than actresses - basically the word just distinguishes the gender difference, not talent or ability. Plus, if everyone is an equal opportunity ACTOR, well then - stop giving awards based on gender and just give a besting ACTING award. Period. I guess the crux of my question is: Why is “female actor” better than saying “actress”? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/2 "2010-01-24T23:37:35Z")
The word “actress” is often taken to mean a woman whose job is mostly looking pretty on camera. “Actor” refers to a skilled performer who takes his/her craft seriously. Awards ceremonies (ostensibly) recognize the skill of the performers, so the word “actress” is not appropriate. That said, male and female actors play sufficiently different sorts of roles that lumping them into the same category wouldn’t really work well. ---
**Author:** ![Herbert\_Quentin\_Viola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c0e974/32.png) [@Herbert\_Quentin\_Viola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herbert_Quentin_Viola)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/3 "2010-01-24T23:38:32Z")
I don’t know that it is as specific to “Actress”, as it is to the ultra-PC way of speaking in a gender-neutral language. **Waitress:** Server, Waitron, Waitperson **Stewardess:** Flight Attendant, Cabin Crew, Air Host **Actress:** Female Actor, Professional Pretender, Channeller [Some Light Reading](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender-specific_job_title) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/4 "2010-01-24T23:40:30Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Nobody is saying actors are better than actresses - basically the word just distinguishes the gender difference… This isn’t true. It has never been true. The word always indicates more than just the gender difference. With that as the premise, the rest follows automatically. ETA. I see that my point was made as I wrote. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/5 "2010-01-24T23:42:45Z")
It’s in enough current usage that it’s not as bad as say Doctoress would be. But my personal preference is to avoid gender distinctions when it has absolutely nothing to do with the activity. I tend to refer to all actors as actors. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/6 "2010-01-24T23:49:10Z")
I think the -or ending, to me anyway, is less male-specific than the -er ending. I’ve never heard the term “doctress”, for example. “Waitron” sounds like a robot. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/7 "2010-01-24T23:50:25Z")
My line of work has been PC’d also. I became a drafter or draftsperson years ago. I still call myself a draftsman sometimes, even though I’m now a designer. 😉 It works in reverse, also! ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/8 "2010-01-24T23:53:32Z")
This is all the fault of womyn. ---
**Author:** ![Herbert\_Quentin\_Viola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c0e974/32.png) [@Herbert\_Quentin\_Viola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Herbert_Quentin_Viola)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/9 "2010-01-24T23:58:04Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > This is all the fault of womyn. This has been going on, all throughout Herstory! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/10 "2010-01-24T23:59:11Z")
An actress portrays women, while an actor portrays men. Divine was an actress. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/11 "2010-01-25T00:23:06Z")
Linda Hunt won for Best Supporting Actress, despite playing a male character in 1982. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/12 "2010-01-25T01:02:47Z")
“Actress” is just going out of fashion. There’s nothing specifically male about “actor.” The suffix seems a bit cute & belittling–look, a lady is pretending she can act!. “Poetess” and “sculptress” faded away long ago. Keeping separate categories makes sense. The SAG awards were also divided by TV vs movies & comedy vs drama. Wonder when “waitress” will go away? ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/13 "2010-01-25T01:18:58Z")
Bijou is right – it’s the feminists that are responsible. The term actually started going out of style in the late 70s. All of this PC stuff is just stupid, and there should be limits to it. I remember in the late 70s seeing a kid’s drawing of Superman flying. There were two other characters on the ground, and one was saying to the other in a bubble, “There goes Superman!” Stupid feminist teacher crosses out “man” and over top of it writes “person” in an effort to put forth her feminist agenda. I took the teacher to task (I was in Grade 8; the school had Grade K to 13 all under one roof), and told her that Superman was an actual character. When the kid said Superman, he meant Superman, no one else. And then I had to give her a whole rundown as to who was who in Metropolis. Dumb chick was clueless… ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/14 "2010-01-25T01:19:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Linda Hunt won for Best Supporting Actress, despite playing a male character in 1982. I’ve always said she should have been given best supporting actor - I said it here on these very boards in [2003](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3348902&postcount=28) and [2009](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11599519&postcount=81)! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/15 "2010-01-25T01:47:42Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Bijou is right – it’s the feminists that are responsible. The term actually started going out of style in the late 70s. All of this PC stuff is just stupid, and there should be limits to it. I agree. But I’m going to be the one who gets to set them. It’s just what I believe. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/16 "2010-01-25T02:00:53Z")
I’ve heard the fact that the original word ‘actor’ in Latin was gender-neutral put forward as an argument for avoiding actress. Frankly, that’s not as good a reason as some have mentioned in this thread. I don’t have a problem with it, but I suspect that I’ve grown up with the distinction enough that I still expect an ‘actor’ to be male. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/17 "2010-01-25T02:04:48Z")
I don’t see any thing negative about the word actress. I’ve heard Sally Field, Meryl Streep etc. refer to themselves in that way. Actress simply means a person playing female roles. Starlet - may not be appropriate. I think of sexy women like Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe etc. Their careers depended more on their looks than talent. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/18 "2010-01-25T02:07:32Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Bijou is right – it’s the feminists that are responsible. The term actually started going out of style in the late 70s. All of this PC stuff is just stupid, and there should be limits to it. Language changes (partly in response to broad cultural shifts), film at 11. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/19 "2010-01-25T02:15:20Z")
If the thespian’s gender is irrelevant, then use gender-neutral language. That’s why we never use “doctress”, and why “stewardess” is going out of fashion. But if you’re giving out separate awards to the ladies and the gents, then gender is clearly not irrelevant, and you’re gaining nothing except syllables by using “male actor” and “female actor”. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290/20 "2010-01-25T02:27:30Z")
It’s not a matter of gender distinction. It’s a matter of distinguishing genuinely skilled performers from eye candy. Megan Fox is an actress. Meryl Streep is an actor. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-word-actress-sexist/526290.md?page=2)