>I've always found it somewhat strange that there are three formal addresses for the female, but only one for the male.

I think until fairly recently Master was used in the same way as Miss. I didn't have a brother but I always remember being told to address birthday cards to my neigbour's son as "Master John Smith". The main difference was that one became Mister at some point, independently of marriage.

An alternative address for a man was John Smith Esquire or Esq. but never Mr. John Smith Esq. and I remember being told that you couldn't be an Esquire until you were a householder. http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/netdict?esquire

I'm not sure how much Esquire is used these days, except as a title for a magazine.