"Master" Bedroom

[Planstech]

This has become a topic where I work.

I think it's more of a term like a master set of drawings. But I guess when naming a bedroom it may have some unfavorable connotation.

.

This article I thought was balanced:

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/fun-at-home/a1087/master-bedroom-politically-incorrect/

 

[Gawdzira]

I have killed this term from my vocabulary. The article being balanced is a bit of a stretch. A person of color tells her truth and calls out this outdated term for what it is (racist and lacking awareness) and then an interior designer from the south (who is also a person of color) appears to be preserving her client base by keeping this outdated term alive. 

 

Architecture has typically been a field populated with progressive thinking. I do not see a down side to moving the nomenclature to Primary Bed/Bath. I do see a down side to the preservation of the term "Master". 

 

P.S. I also am no longer using the term "Parlor" or "Drawing Room". Terms evolve.

[JKEdmo]

1 hour ago, Gawdzira said:

I have killed this term from my vocabulary.

 

I found this industry change interesting, somewhat surprising yet understandable and in the end no big effort to implement on my part.

 

I prefer to use the term "main" instead of "primary."  To me it sounds less contrived / clinical.  It's also easier to type.

 

Jim

 

[Planstech]

Will Chief make a change in X16?

[Planstech]

Wait! What about the term 'Chief'?

[mtldesigns]

19 hours ago, Planstech said:

Wait! What about the term 'Chief'?

Exactly....  we are going to down a worm hole looking at every word to see if it offends someone.  Can you call it a Family Room, if you don't have a spouse or can't have children?  We can go all day here.  

 

I go by what my clients notes..  if they call it master bedroom, that what its called.  If they call it Primary or Master Suite, or... that's what its called.  It's their house after all and they are paying me, so they are the boss and can call it whatever they want.  The same with the next client and their bedroom...

[Alchemyjim]

Things evolve.

Do we still nail down a board at the entrance to hold the thresh? Yet we still call it a threshold.

Do you know what they used to call Brazil nuts?

Both antiquated terms but the horridly offensive one fell out of usage for a reason. 

I just use Bedrooms 1, 2, 3 etc.  

[Michael_Gia]

you Americans are weird 

[Planstech]

I will stop using Master Bedroom just because....

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/master

 

In some cultures, a Master/Slave relationship was an Employer/Employee relationship. 

 

Some who have researched it concluded the Master Bedroom didn't start getting called the Master Bedroom until around 1926.

[para-CAD]

Each unto his own.

 

If you are worried about offending someone by your room labeling ............you're in for a constantly bumpy and contorted life.

I assume you are not actively promoting human slavery in your designs so all is good.  The offense is not coming from your heart, but MAY be in the mind of the one suffering victimology.

 

The same thinking makes people say Happy Holidays, instead of Merry Christmas, or any other groups special days title.

 

With respect and love.

 

Merry Christmas to all.

 

[GaryOhmer]

the rabbit hole is so deep - if go down it's tough to get back out - just don't go down - their feelings down supersede my 1st amendment

[parkwest]

Master carpenter, master plumber, Master's degree and master builder???  All of them slave owners???

For all the newspeak people, Chief has to go along with the term of architect, which definitely has an air of superiority to it's name.

If anyone is really concerned about masters and slaves just take a look at your paycheck deductions and your tax returns... and think it was illegal to collect taxes on free Americans until they passed the 16th amendment in 1913... just a little over 100 years ago.  For the first 150 years we got to keep and spend our own money.

[RobDesLLC]

On 12/22/2023 at 3:19 PM, Gawdzira said:

I have killed this term from my vocabulary. The article being balanced is a bit of a stretch. A person of color tells her truth and calls out this outdated term for what it is (racist and lacking awareness) and then an interior designer from the south (who is also a person of color) appears to be preserving her client base by keeping this outdated term alive. 

 

Architecture has typically been a field populated with progressive thinking. I do not see a down side to moving the nomenclature to Primary Bed/Bath. I do see a down side to the preservation of the term "Master". 

 

P.S. I also am no longer using the term "Parlor" or "Drawing Room". Terms evolve.

"Master Bedroom" (or "Master" anything) isn't a racist term, and there is no such thing as "her truth", "his truth", "your truth", "my truth", etc. There is only "the truth". 

 

A good friend of mine just moved into a new home he built for himself that I designed. He grew up poor and black in the South, and he has owned a business in the construction industry for over 20 years. He never once had an issue with the term "Master Bedroom", and used it often across multiple projects, including this one. When I told him about this apparently being an issue for some people, he just shook his head and said, "That's stupid". I agree with him. This is the sort of thing that white women who don't have to work worry about. 

 

I'll be keeping the term on my plans, along with "Parlor" and "Drawing Room", which are both still in use. If someone were to label a guest house as "Slave Quarters", THAT would be offensive to a reasonable person, and I'd agree with the claim that it's racist, but that's not what we're talking about.