Same Newbie. Same Book. Same World. Let say for example, there's a clan of ninjas and the highest rank given to one is "Master" meaning that everyone in the clan needs to refer the individual as "Master Kent, Master Julio etc." So if a woman receives this rank should she still be called a Master? I googled and discovered that the female equivalent of Master is "Mistress" but I dunno...Mistress sounds a bit misleading for me. So, should I leave it to be "Master" or "Mistress"? Or do you guys have any suggestions? --All and Any type of help is much appreciated. Please And Thank You!!!
I would say this depends on your universe. If you're portraying a world where females in authoritarian positions are rare and somewhat frowned upon, I would go with Mistress. If she's seen as an equal because of her rank, go with Master. I've seen similar topics come up in sci-fi military worlds and Sir is frequently used even for women in high-rank positions.
Agreed. The vagaries of semantic shift do often rob us of perfectly good words that give perfectly precise meanings. As soon as we must argue that a word can have another meaning, or a more original meaning, the fact that we must argue this is itself the indictment against its use. In the following scene, Mistress is used as feminine for Master, but note that the meaning is supported by a preponderance of contextual direction.
I'd go with "Master," unless you want to bring in a language in which the feminine form of "master" doesn't carry additional baggage with it: "Maestra" or "Meisterin," for example.
Master is a title itself, you are the master of your craft basically. Master [last name]. Man, woman, makes no difference. However that is my opinion.
Yeah Master and Mistress has a connotation of Master and Mistress of a House. But if you're talking about the rank gained in a skill/craft/trade then it should just be Master weather male or female. Unrelated; but this just made me remember that the Junior form of Mister (as in Mr.) is Master. Freaked me out when eight year old me received a letter addressed to me by some old fashioned relatives referring to me as Master. Like what was I the master of?
Master. "Master" in the sense of a male with authority over others, and "master" in the sense of someone who has mastered a skill, may have the same origins(?), but they're used very differently.
It depends on how ancient, or not, your setting is. And if it's a fantasy one, then you pick. So the customs of your world are your decision.
Gotta agree. It's like military ranks. Male or female doesn't really matter most of the time, merit does.
Is the fact that this particular female ninja an oddity? It the fact that it is an oddity part of the story? Or is it just part of the setting. If it is common for this group of ninjas to have female masters, then I would agree with everyone else that master is fine. But if the fact that a woman has attained the level of master is unusual, you could highlight this by creating a different title for her. Mistress, Maestra, or something you invent. It all depends on how this person fits into the story and what the story is about. If it is a clan of space ninjas that are defending earth from the baboon men from mars, then it probably doesn't matter if you call the woman a master. That's not the focus of the story. If it is a story about a female rising to eminence within the clan, then perhaps you should consider setting her apart with a new title. P.S. if it is the baboon-men story, consider giving them laser-eye powers.
Damn. Now I'm gonna have to write a story about baboon men with laser-eye powers. They're gonna have to attack the colony of lesbian space ninjas.
You could use "Mastress", but for simplicity's sake it'd probably be better to stick with master. The word is pretty mono-gendered.
