Question

Is ‘Mistress’ a Word That Has Seen Its Best Days?Language evolves. Words come and go. And sometimes, as words go, they need a little push getting out the door. Some readers brought this to my attention recently when it was used in stories about Gen. David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell.Ellen Hymowitz of New York City asked if The Times “could summon up a less archaic word that didn’t demean the female by her sex or her gender.” She said that the term suggests “not just a female participant in a clandestine love affair but also that the affair is of a long-term nature and that the woman is ‘kept’ — financially supported — by the man.” Mary Elizabeth Williams protested the m-word in Salon in 2009.I asked the standards editor, Philip B. Corbett, about the use of the term in Times stories. He responded: I agree that “mistress” has a somewhat old-fashioned tone to it that isn’t ideal (though I don’t accept the argument that it necessarily implies a financial arrangement; it doesn’t. First definition from American Heritage: “A woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with a man who is married to someone else”). One problem is that there isn’t really a perfect word here. “Lover” is probably a little better, and we’ve used it fairly often in the Petraeus-Broadwell situation. But “lover” doesn’t necessarily convey the idea that one or both partners is married to someone else. And it, too, has a bit of a romance-novel tone that isn’t perfect in a news story.SULLIVAN, M. The New York Times. Disponível em: www.publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com. Acesso em: 26 mar. 2015.Este artigo de opinião do jornal The New York Times é uma resposta a alguns leitores que questionarama) o uso da palavra fêmea para definir a mulher de forma degradante, pois a relaciona com um animal.b) a matéria que revelava artimanhas das mulheres que possuíam relacionamentos extraconjugais.c) o uso arcaico de uma palavra para definir a mulher que tem um relacionamento extraconjugal.d) o artigo da autora como imoral, pois ela era a favor dos casos extraconjugais.e) a autora que chamou de imorais as mulheres que possuíam casos extraconjugais.

Answer 1

o uso arcaico de uma palavra para definir a mulher que tem um relacionamento extraconjugal