'Miss' officially banned in France

French Solidarity Minister Roselyne Bachelot

"Miss" is officially out in France. The office of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday the term would be struck from official documents, along with that of "maiden name" or "married name" for women.

The prime minister's office said it would be writing to all ministries and regional senior officials to ask them to ban such wording.

Instead, authorities are to use the term "Madame" (Madam), equivalent to the male "Monsieur" (Sir), and drop all reference to the husband's name unless it is that officially adopted by the woman.

A number of women's organisations last year launched a campaign to do away with "Miss" in official documents, arguing that it was discriminatory to force women to state their marital status.

Solidarity Minister Roselyne Bachelot, responsible for women's rights, welcomed the move which she said "ends a form of discrimination."