Actor or actress?

BBC Learning EnglishWeekenderActor or actress?
　　Amber 1: Hello, I'm Amber, and you’re listening tobbclearningenglish.com.
　　In Weekender today, we consider a linguistic 2 dilemma 3 -should we call a woman who acts an ‘actress’? Does theuse of the word ‘actor’ to describe both men and womenmake more sense?
　　We hear from two acclaimed 4 actresses - Fiona Shaw and Zo?
　　Wannamaker. And from David Marsh 5 who’s the author of TheGuardian newspaper style guide.
　　But first, a little history: The word ‘actress’ was firstused round about 1700. But women began acting 7 on theEnglish stage in 1656, when King Charles II permitted it.
　　So there’s a gap between women starting to act in 1656when they were called ‘actor’, and women being called‘actress’ round about 1700.
　　Then, if we jump forward to the 1970s and 1980s, womenbegan to choose the term ‘actor’ instead of ‘actress’
　　as a direct result of the women’s movement and anawareness of gender 8 bias 9 in language. Women began to takeback the term ‘actor’, and it’s often used today.
　　Zo? Wannamaker explains that in the 1970s and 1980s therewas ‘a stigma 10’ – a feeling that people disapproved 11 – ofbeing called an actress. This was because the word actressseemed to have the ‘connotation’, or suggested meaning,ofbeing a prostitute.
　　Zo? Wannamaker‘There was supposed to be a feeling of equality and also,there was this stigma against being called an actressbecause particularly in this country, in Great Britain, thename actress seemed to have this connotation of being aprostitute.’
　　Amber: So Zo? Wannamaker called herself an actor becauseit seemed more respectable! And some people still think theword actress is pejorative 12 – it expresses disapproval 13.
　　The Guardian 6 newspaper has banned the term ‘actress’ fromits pages,deciding that ‘actor’ should be used for both men andwomen. So, for example, the paper has to say that the actorHelen Mirren recently won an Oscar for Best Actress!
　　David March, author of the newspaper’s style guide, saysthe change was in response to feedback from readers whothought ‘actor’ should be used for men and women. But hepoints out that it’s very useful to have two terms. Why?
　　Oh, and as you listen, try to catch the informal word heuses to refer to men.
　　David Marsh‘If I want to say that Judy Dench is the finest actor inBritain, that’s unambiguous – it means she’s better thanthe blokes. If I say she’s the finest actress, it meansshe’s better than Helen Mirren and other female actors,which is not saying the same things at all.’
　　Amber: So having two words is useful because you can referto men and women performers as two groups. And the informalword for men? ‘Blokes’.
　　Now here’s Fiona Shaw who says the words we use are simplythe words we’re used to using – they’re ‘attitudes ofcustom and habit’. She explains that it doesn’t make theexperiences of actors and actresses the same, just by usingthe same word – that would be ‘humbug 14’, nonsense anddishonest.
　　Fiona Shaw‘These are just attitudes of custom and habit aren’tthey? – what words we use – on one hand. On the otherhand, I think the experience of being an actress is sofundamentally different to being an actor that any illusionthat making the name the same, would make the experience ofan actress the same, would be humbug really and would justcover the cracks.’
　　Amber: Listen again and try to catch the expression sheuses to describe how using actor instead of actress is justa superficial change – a change on the surface of things!
　　Fiona Shaw‘These are just attitudes of custom and habit aren’tthey? – what words we use – on one hand. On the otherhand, I think the experience of being an actress is sofundamentally different to being an actor that any illusionthat making the name the same, would make the experience ofan actress the same, would be humbug really and would justcover the cracks.’
　　Amber: ‘Cover the cracks’ – a superficial change.
　　Finally, Fiona Shaw explains that there are so few partsfor women to act that their lives are harder. So it’s notdegrading, in her view, to be called an actress – there’sno ‘diminishment of status’! She says it’s not a sign,or ‘badge’, of shame but a badge of?
　　Fiona Shaw‘In young actors’ experience, there is one in eight partsfor women – I mean, one part for every eight parts thereare for men. So a young actress’s life is entirelydifferent to an actor’s and I don’t see any diminishmentof status in being called an actress as opposed to an actor– if anything, the badge of shame is the badge of pridebecause it’s a much tougher job!’
　　Amber: So, Fiona Shaw says being called an actress is a ‘badge of pride’ – it’s something to be proud of.
　　Now here’s a list of the language we focussed on in theprogramme today. stigmaconnotation pejorative blokes humbugdiminishment of status badge of shamebadge of prideMore topical stories and language explanations next time atbbclearningenglish.com