English Rewind - Weekender: 'Actor' or 'Actress'?

Hello! Catherine here from BBC Learning English.

Just so you know, this programme is from the BBC Learning English archive.

It was originally broadcast in April 2007 on our website.

Enjoy!

Hello, I'm Amber, and you're listening to BBC Learning English dot com.

In Weekender today, we consider a linguistic dilemma —

should we call a woman who acts an 'actress'?

Does the use of the word 'actor'

to describe both men and women make more sense?

We hear from two acclaimed actresses, Fiona Shaw and Zoë Wanamaker,

and from David Marsh, who's the author of The Guardian newspaper style guide.

But first, a little history.

The word 'actress' was first used round about 1700,

but women began acting on the English stage in 1656,

when King Charles II permitted it,

so there's a gap between women starting to act in 1656 when they were called 'actor',

and women being called 'actress' round about 1700.

Then, if we jump forward to the 1970s and 1980s,

women began to choose the term 'actor' instead of 'actress'

as a direct result of the women's movement

and an awareness of gender bias in language.

Women began to take back the term 'actor', and it's often used today.

Zoë Wanamaker explains that, in the 1970s and 1980s, there was 'a stigma' —

a feeling that people disapproved — of being called an actress.

This was because the word 'actress' seemed to have the connotation,

or suggested meaning, of being a prostitute.

There was supposed to be a feeling of equality

and also, there was this stigma against being called an actress

because, particularly in this country, in Great Britain,

the name actress seemed to have this connotation of being a prostitute.

So Zoë Wanamaker called herself an actor because it seemed more respectable.

And some people still think the word 'actress' is pejorative —

it expresses disapproval.

The Guardian newspaper has banned the term 'actress' from its pages,

deciding that 'actor' should be used for both men and women.

So, for example, the paper has to say that the actor Helen Mirren

recently won an Oscar for Best Actress!

David March, author of the newspaper's style guide,

says the change was in response to feedback from readers

who thought 'actor' should be used for men and women.

But he points out that it's very useful to have two terms.

Why? Oh, and as you listen, try to catch the informal word he uses to refer to men.

If I want to say that Judi Dench is the finest actor in Britain,

that's unambiguous — it means she's better than the blokes.

If I say she's the finest actress,

it means she's better than Helen Mirren and other female actors,

which is not saying the same thing at all.

So having two words is useful,

because you can refer to men and women performers as two groups.

And the informal word for men?

'Blokes'.

Now here's Fiona Shaw who says the words we use

are simply the words we're used to using. They're 'attitudes of custom and habit'.

She explains that it doesn't make the experiences

of actors and actresses the same, just by using the same word —

that would be 'humbug', nonsense and dishonest.

These are just attitudes of custom and habit, aren't they,

what words we use, on one hand?

On the other hand, I think the experience of being an actress

is so fundamentally different to being an actor

that any illusion that making the name the same

would make the experience of an actress the same

would be humbug, really, and would just cover the cracks.

Listen again and try to catch the expression she uses

to describe how using 'actor' instead of 'actress' is just 'a superficial change' —

a change on the surface of things.

These are just attitudes of custom and habit, aren't they,

what words we use, on one hand?

On the other hand, I think the experience of being an actress

is so fundamentally different to being an actor

that any illusion that making the name the same

would make the experience of an actress the same

would be humbug, really, and would just cover the cracks.

'Cover the cracks' — a superficial change.

Finally, Fiona Shaw explains

that there are so few parts for women to act that their lives are harder.

So it's not degrading, in her view, to be called an actress —

there's no 'diminishment of status'.

She says it's not a sign, or 'badge', of shame but a badge of

In young actors' experience, there is one in eight parts for women —

I mean, one part for every eight parts there are for men.

So a young actress's life is entirely different to an actor's

so I don't see any diminishment of status

in being called an actress as opposed to an actor.

If anything, the badge of shame is the badge of pride,

because it's a much tougher job!

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 focused on in the programme today.

Stigma,

connotation,

pejorative,

blokes,

humbug,

diminishment of status,

badge of shame,

badge of pride.

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