Miss - for young girls only Ms. - for unmarried women or when you don't know a woman's marital status Mrs. - for a woman that you know is married. more here: http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/businessintroductionrules/a/whenusemissms.htm
People who get worked up over these kinds of things irk me. A rose by any other name would smell just as uptight.
That's what I've always done, but women here, even those that are married, have taken their husband's last name, want to be called Ms. I can kind of understand in that it is different than men, who are called Mr. regardless, so why shouldn't women be called the same thing regardless, but then it seems from this thread there is some confusion over it anyway. Until today, everytime I've met a "Ms." I've assumed unmarried - but now I know that may be not be the case. I'd agree, though I'm not a women, in the professional workplace, having to deal with these issues and potential prejudices...
Just my two cents, since knowing a woman is married or not does not affect how I would treat them professionally. Nor should it anyone else. That's not to say I'm oblivious to the "reality" you're talking about, but I don't see how hiding it with a new PC "title or salutation" makes a difference. Do these same people take their wedding rings off in business meetings? Whatever. People gon' do what people gon' do. Go ahead and correct me if it bothers you (person in question), I promise to remember, and not to take it personally that you thought it necessary to correct me, if you don't take it personally that I now think you're uptight where before I'd have never had any preconceived professional notions.
I don't think they should have their name said at all. Referring to them as "Woman A", "Woman B", etc. is the most proper.
I use Miss if it's a female I don't know, but if I know they're married, such as a person introducing their wife, I'll say Mrs. As for the workplace, if I was a woman I would just use Ms. all the time to reap the advantage of job opportunities, since companies discriminate against married women.
Use Ms. to keep things consistent. Whether she is married or unmarried should be generally irrelevant in a professional setting.
Is it common in US where married women would inherit their husbands' family name? Say if Mary Jane married to John Doe, we would call her Mrs. Doe or Ms. Jane.
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Marital "Don't ask don't tell." Nice. Seriously, is "gender bias" in the workplace more pronounced against Married women than it is Single women? So much so that it needs to be concealed by title? Maybe it is, I don't feel this way, nor do I know any who do, so I don't know. Seems... ridiculous... but I'm not saying that it could not be so. If it is, why? Romantic availability (wouldn't the progressive professional female be against having to feign this to get ahead?)? Implications of domestic obligations and priorities? Guess I'm too old to get it... and too open minded (naive) to think it's necessary or even appropriate.
I'm shocked the Mrs.s are winning. I favor using the Mrs. when I can in social situations, but I've been trained to never ever ever use it in a professional setting. Incidentally, I also found out calling female execs your "Georgia peaches" isn't well received either. Yes, single women you can have work 12 hours a day for years on end just like you do with the men. Married women have to pick up the kids from school and may drop out for months at a time to produce more of them.
