At What Age Do You Feel It Is Appropriate For A Women To be Called Mame?

Question

Yes, sorry for the spelling error...I do mean ma'am not mame.

Answer 1

I never minded being called Ma'am at any age. I HATE being called Miss. I think it's OK for people to call women Ma'am if they don't know their age or marital status. It would be rude to call someone Miss and then find out she's 25, married, and has three kids.

Answer 2

I agree with Jupiter. It's a sign of respect and has nothing to do with age. Having someone call me "Miss" always annoys me (it's too close to "Missy" which is often used sarcastically) and being raised in the south, Ma'am is much more normal sounding to me.

I suppose if an age must be attached to the word "Ma'am" it should probably be around 35-40, but then how do you determine a woman's age? I know 20 year olds that look 40 and 50 year olds that look 30. So again, you're faced with possibly insulting someone.........

Answer 3

I love that movie!  Sorry, it doesn't bother me to be called ma'am by someone who's an employee of some place where I'm shopping, I guess 30's is cool otherwise.

Answer 4

I wouldn't call anyone under 35 ma'am. I would feel that i'm kinda of insulting them. Better yet, maybe 40.

Answer 5

I agree with the first answerer, a thirty year old woman can still becalled Miss, but ma'am wouldn't seem out of place. However, it would seem misplaced if you called a twenty year-old lady ma'am. It just doesn't fit.

A young man is refered to as sir no matter how old he is. But I can't see a young man being called sir if he's younger than twenty, unless it's by someone who's trying to be extra polite, to please a customer or some thing.

Answer 6

Miss until slight wrinkles and age lines begin to show (around 35-40).  then Ma'am.

(I used to wait tables, and that's how I made my distinction)

Answer 7

Mame? Like the musical? Or, do you mean Ma'am (Mam)???

Just my humble opinion, I think 30s is about right. However, I am older than that, and some service people call me Miss. That's o.k.- probably to make me feel younger and willing to spend more $$$.

Ma'am is just a polite way to address people.  Young men are called "Sir" no matter how old they are.

Answer 8

Probably the best age would be around 40. It refers to a more mature lady.

Answer 9

Mam is a polite way of addressing a lady.

I don't understand why everyone thinks it means they are old.

Age has nothing to do with it.

It's a sign of respect.  Either you want respect or you don't.

If you don't want people to respect you then let them call you by some four letter name.  I'll stick with three letters: mam.

Answer 10

Where I grew up, "Ma'am" was considered proper for all adult women.  "Miss" was only used when addressing waitresses.  I think you should assume that whoever is calling you "Ma'am" is following that rule.

It may interest you to know that in Europe, the equivalents of "Miss" (mademoiselle, Fraulein, etc.) are going out of fashion.  Apparently Europeans believe that respect isn't just for old people, which sounds very sensible to me.

And for a woman to be obsessed with her age seems a little strange in these days of feminism.