Au revoir, Mademoiselle.

• Position: French - Brief article

Checking off "Mademoiselle" on official documents is no longer an option in France. That's thanks to feminist groups who've pushed to ban the form of address that since 1690 has connoted "unmarried woman." No equivalent, they argue, exists for men, who are called "Monsieur" regardless of their marital status. Similar debates have prompted comparable changes in other languages. During the women's rights movement in the 1970s, "Mrs." and "Miss" were largely replaced with "Ms." in the U.S.; and Fraulein ("little woman") is no longer in official use in Germany. But not all French women are celebrating the...