Re: French Grammar

[gallamw@mollybloom.msfc.nasa.gov (Mike Gallaher)]

In article <960124123126.6cf7@ucfv.bc.ca>, MCQUARRF@ucfv.bc.ca writes:
|> In a previous post (which I lost :( ) someone stated that "le professeur" was
|> correct French grammar for both female and male teachers.

That was mine...

|> 
|> If this is the case, please explain to me why I just finished a mailing for a
|> bilingual organization that went to "Cher Professeur" (Dear [Male] Professor)
|> and "Chere Professeuse" {Dear [Female] Professor).

I just remembered that as a specific example my French teacher (early 50's,
female, French native) gave our class.  She said people would think you were
very strange if you used "professeuse" to refer to your female teacher.
Perhaps she was old-fashioned.  Anyway, while gender-specification of 
such professional titles may be gaining popularity in French, I doubt that
this would apply to Kate's use of "chat" in a cat simile for a female
singer, since there's little potential for personal offense (which might
be fueling this "professeuse" thing.

|> 
|> Technically, the single gender term is correct. But in actual usage, there are
|> more and more job-descriptive nouns that are recognizing that both men and
|> women do those jobs. It's that feminism thing, you know :)
|> 
|> Cheers, Fiona
|> une professeuse

This reminds me, have you noticed that few if any female performers of
humor use the term "comedienne" anymore?  They're all comedians, just like
the guys.  I suspect "actresses" would become "actors" to a greater degree
if we didn't have the Academy Awards.

-- Mike