MASCULINE-FEMININE?

16-Oct-11 - This is a bit of an oddity, but it crops up every time I write an article about wine waiters. At the DECANTER World Wine Awards earlier this year I was talking to Barbara Philip, MW, (below) who was on one of my tasting teams.

 She runs a consultancy with her husband in Canada, and also works occasionally as a sommelier. "Surely not," I said, "a woman cannot be a sommelier." Sharp intake of breath. "A woman can, however, be a sommelière" I continued hurriedly. "The word is French and has a feminine form." My co-Chair (note, not Chairman or Chairwoman - pictured below at the DECANTER Awards - pic. www.decanter.com) Sarah Jane Evans weighed in with exactly the opposite opinion. She, too, is an MW - a Master (not Mistress) of Wine, and has no truck with feminine forms.

 

 I argued that I believe having a feminine form of a job description adds dignity and individuality to the title: Maîtresse d', Entrepreneuse, Proprietrix, Comedienne and even Commère. There is an obsolete French word Chève, which is the feminine of Chef, but that is, perhaps, taking things a bit too far as they don't even use it in France. In English we have Waitress, Actress, Manageress and a dozen more, but there does seem to have been an increasing trend for women to use the masculine title. I'd be interested in people's opinions on this, if you'd like to get in touch. Add a comment or e-mail me direct on john@johnradford.com. There could be an article in it. Barbara, by the way, didn't seem to be bothered either way but then, she is Canadian and they are famously laid-back about that kind of thing.