If a woman became POTUS would what would the proper form of address be? If she is married is it “Mrs. President” (or "Miss President if she is not married) or do we default to the more politically correct “Ms. President”?
Or is it up the the female POTUS to specify which she prefers? I could understand reporters abiding by her wishes whatever it may be but I also think there is a formal protocol for such things as properly addressing someone in those positions not subject to the whims of the actors themselves.
I assume that as long as there is no woman occupying the office, there is no “proper” form of address. There is no custom about it simply because the situation has never arisen, but as soon as it comes up, a custom will emerge.
I gather, however, that in the Philippines - an English-speaking country whose constitution was modelled after the U.S. one and which has had two female presidents fo far -, the custom which emerged was “Mrs President,” with the president’s husband being referred to as the “First Gentleman.”
When I learned English in school, we were told that “Mrs” is to be pronounced “Mississ,” whereas “Ms” should sound like an M, followed by a very short and unpronounced vowel (a schwa?) and a voiced Z.
I guess the first difference is the vowel. It’s clearly an I in Mrs, but that very short unpronounced schwa in Ms.
And the final consonant is also different: It’s an unvoiced S for Mrs and a voiced Z for Ms.
At least that’s my interpretation; I use “Ms” in mail and e-mail a lot, but I never pronounce it. I’m sure some native speaker will show up and enlighten us.
ETA: Seems this has already happened. Thanks, Whack-a-Mole!
It can be pretty subtle depending on how you pronounce esses and zees (or zeds), but “Miss” is pronounced how it’s spelled, while “Ms.” is pronounced “miz”.
And to answer the OP, after 3 1/2 seasons of Galactica, I’m also partial to “Madame President”.
(On preview: Apparently I need to specify that the pronunciation I use is what prevails in NE Ohio, and varies a bit.)
