Actor (both masculine and feminine?)
Hello! I'm studying with a new book. Now I found a small text about Madonna the famous singer... well the text says this
"Maddona is a famous singer. She's also an actor. And she's a writer too."
(c)Top Notch Fundamentals. Worbook. Pearson Longman
But I learned that the femenine form is "actress", and I've found this in the Merriam Webster Spanish-English dictionary
actor noun Translation of ACTOR : actor masculine, artista masculine or feminine
So, in this context "actor" should be translated as "artista" instead of "actor"?
11 Answers
More and more actor is being used to refer to both men and women. The same is true of comedian. You don't hear the word comedienne very often, anymore.
Part of it is 'political correctness'. We now say police officer instead of policeman and policewoman, server instead of waiter and waitress, flight attendant instead of stewardess, etc.
Hola antonio, ¿es una errata o debe ser "an actor"?
De todas formas es de las pocas palabras para las que tiene una forma femenina, no he visto nunca llamar a la Heburn un actor en vez de actriz.
It should be actress.
The term "actor" can be applied to male or female. Hollywood tends to use the term "actress" for females. Broadway tends to use the term "actor" for females. It could be said that the term "actor" is used more often to describe an actress in theater. The term "actor" conveys that the actress is trained for the theater. I am sure usage varies by area of the country and personal upbringing. Hope this helps.
There are number of feminized forms that have been used in the past and have gone out of fashion. Doctoress Is one that comes to my mind. English has changed in a number of areas to reduce gender identification with a specific profession. The people who took care of passengers on an airplane were for decades called stewerdess but are now commonly called flight attendants. Mailmen are referred to as letter carriers. In many restaurants instead of waiters and waitresses they are called wait staff or servers. I think this is more easily accomplished in English due to the lack of general gender specific nouns.
It seems that "actor" also means "artist", but in the USA or UK?
Sometimes actors are referred to as artists in the sense that acting is considered an art, but actor is not a synonym for artist.
The term "actor" can be applied to male or female. Hollywood tends to use the term "actress" for females. Broadway tends to use the term "actor" for females.
Wow, that also deserves a major wow, jeje, I had no idea, interesting, thanks for the question, Antonio
I agree with dogwood. Typically, the feminine form is actress, but publications and news sources, in an attempt to become more gender neutral, have started to use actor for both genders.
That said, on awards shows, there are still awards given for Best Actor and Best Actress. So much for gender neutrality!
Well I've also found this in Merriam's Webster:
usage Actor is often used to refer specifically to a man or boy who acts. ? He's a talented actor, and his wife is a well-known actress. Actor can also refer to a woman or girl, and many women now prefer this use. ? His wife is also an actor. The plural form actors is used for groups that include both men and women. ? She and her husband are both talented actors.
And this from thefreedictionary.com
Usage: The use of actress is now very much on the decline, and women who work in the profession invariably prefer to be referred to as actors. Quotations "An actor's a guy who, if you ain't talking about him, ain't listening" [Marlon Brando] "Actors should be treated like cattle" [Alfred Hitchcock] "I'm an actor. An actress is someone who wears boa feathers" [Sigourney Weaver]
What does this mean? "And actress is someone who wears boa feathers"
"I'm an actor. An actress is someone who wears boa feathers" [Sigourney Weaver]
This is great!
It means that Sigourney Weaver is serious about her profession, that she studies it and approaches it as real work.
She is saying that actresses are just interested in glamour and fame and all the superficial things.
It probably also means that Sigourney Weaver does not like gender bias, that she is a feminist.
I have always understood the feminine form should be "actress", however I have noticed several periodicals have started to use "actor" for male or female performers.
I believe "actress" is correct to describe a female performer in the cinema, theatre, or television.
It seems that "actor" also means "artist", but in the USA or UK?
