About actORs and actresses - and 'guys'

I have to confess to a irritation with, and dislike of, a trend of recent years to call actresses, as I've always known them, actORs (and yes, they really do seem to stress the 'TOR' bit!).

Why, I wonder, has this come about? It seems to be part of a trend to underplay the differences between, and complementarity of, male and female and yet, for me, these are part of the wonder of life itself.

Do actresses who wish to be called actors, not realise that they may actually be implying, albeit unwittingly, that the title 'actor' is of more value and worthy of more respect than that of 'actress'. Surely that is the opposite of the ideals of equality in difference that we should all affirm.

Whilst it is true that there are no equivalent feminine versions for words such as doctor, director and many others, where there are, surely these are part of our linguistic and cultural heritage and should be treasured and valued as such.

Could it be the same issue in those areas where girls/women seem to feel they have to emulate male behaviour in order to compete with, be the same as or even 'best' the boys/men? By its very nature, this attitude seems to undervalue the intrinsic worth of all people, be they male or female.

While on this tack, I should also say that I really don't like hearing the word 'guys' used to address women (or even men, for that matter) as is so often the case today, particularly in the media.

Of course I want to be recognised as a person in my own right first, but am proud to be a woman and happy to feel that my person-hood is, in some very intricate and mysterious way, filtered through the lens of my womanhood.

Sadly, I can see no obvious modern term which would be generally acceptable to most of us today. 'Ladies and gentlemen' is somewhat old-fashioned and staid maybe, as is 'folks' as a generalised term.  Would that there were.

We know that there are still serious issues of inequality between men and women and even, sadly, injustice and ill-treatment of women by men, and maybe even, in some instances, vice versa, but generally, where this is not the case, can we not learn to value each other for what and whom we are.

It would be wonderful to live in a world where men and women do not feel that they have to compete with one another but one in which we can all learn to live in harmony with, and respect for all, in order to build up rather than try to cut each other down.

Personally, I love the concepts of femininity and masculinity and believe that to enhance these aspects of each man and woman could only help to make the world a better place.