There an article in Monday's LA Times about Jill Biden going by Dr. Jill Biden. Good for her! Apparently, this strikes people as pretentious, funny, and unnecessary. It was also pointed out that Lynne Cheney has a doctorate, and went by Mrs. Cheney. Good for her!
I don't understand why this is pretentious. The argument made in the article is that usually only MDs go by Doctor. That is patently false. A doctor in a professional setting introduces herself as Dr. Whosawhatzit. If you met her on an airplane, she'd probably just tell you her name. People meet medical doctors in a professional setting every day, so we're accustomed to hearing MDs go by Doctor. In their corresponding professional setting, the university, PhDs go by Doctor as well. If you met one on the airplane, they, much like the MD, would just say their name.
As the wife of the VP, she is perpetually in a professional setting, and is asking to be introduced in professional settings by her professional title. If that's the title she chooses, we should respect that and be damned proud to have 1) an educated second lady, 2) one who loves her job enough to keep doing it, and 3) someone in the White House who is knowledgable about education, for goodness' sake. Also, it's not like she's going around to all her friends from third grade saying, "Oh, please call me Dr. Biden now."
Finally, I'm not even sure it's worth going into how obviously gendered this complaint is. A multitude of examples have been brought up of men who have served in public office who went by Dr. and weren't questioned regarding their title. I think it's really more the comparison of her to the previous Second Lady that ticks me off and is revealing of the true motivation behind this whining. There have been male politicians with doctorates who have chosen to use Mr. in lieu of Dr. Why wasn't she compared to them? Because her gender trumps any other point of comparison.
I guess it is worth it because there's more. Amy Sullivan, a religion writer for Time magazine, is quoted thus
First, why is this woman qualified to have her opinion become the opinion of the masses for Robin Abcarian, the author of this drivel? Does she have a PhD? Does her job require that she interact with PhDs in a professional setting on a regular basis? Second, her title is a reminder that she's her own person???? So if it weren't for that title, she'd be an appendage? That's just great. I don't have a PhD yet, and I'm not married, so what, I just don't exist?
How has our nation become so anti-intellectual? I have a hunch, and it has something to do with the Republican spin machine making all us liberals out to be "elite" braniacs who don't know anything about the real world. I think the issue is really that we're painted as this group of people who think we know better than others how their lives should be led. That we can't identify with "normal" people and for that reason we certainly shouldn't be telling them what to do. But we never wanted to tell other people what to do. At least I don't. The current administration doesn't seem that keen on it either, not compared with what we've had the last 8 years.
Some people have a problem with Dr. Jill Biden because they think that her being more somehow makes them less. It's interesting that these individuals aren't lessened by the use of Dr. Biden's hard-won title, but rather by their own needless complaints about it.
I don't understand why this is pretentious. The argument made in the article is that usually only MDs go by Doctor. That is patently false. A doctor in a professional setting introduces herself as Dr. Whosawhatzit. If you met her on an airplane, she'd probably just tell you her name. People meet medical doctors in a professional setting every day, so we're accustomed to hearing MDs go by Doctor. In their corresponding professional setting, the university, PhDs go by Doctor as well. If you met one on the airplane, they, much like the MD, would just say their name.
As the wife of the VP, she is perpetually in a professional setting, and is asking to be introduced in professional settings by her professional title. If that's the title she chooses, we should respect that and be damned proud to have 1) an educated second lady, 2) one who loves her job enough to keep doing it, and 3) someone in the White House who is knowledgable about education, for goodness' sake. Also, it's not like she's going around to all her friends from third grade saying, "Oh, please call me Dr. Biden now."
Finally, I'm not even sure it's worth going into how obviously gendered this complaint is. A multitude of examples have been brought up of men who have served in public office who went by Dr. and weren't questioned regarding their title. I think it's really more the comparison of her to the previous Second Lady that ticks me off and is revealing of the true motivation behind this whining. There have been male politicians with doctorates who have chosen to use Mr. in lieu of Dr. Why wasn't she compared to them? Because her gender trumps any other point of comparison.
I guess it is worth it because there's more. Amy Sullivan, a religion writer for Time magazine, is quoted thus
"Ordinarily when someone goes by doctor and they are a PhD, not an MD, I find it a little bit obnoxious," Sullivan said. "But it makes me smile because it's a reminder that she's her own person. She wasn't there as an appendage; she was there as a professional in her own right."
First, why is this woman qualified to have her opinion become the opinion of the masses for Robin Abcarian, the author of this drivel? Does she have a PhD? Does her job require that she interact with PhDs in a professional setting on a regular basis? Second, her title is a reminder that she's her own person???? So if it weren't for that title, she'd be an appendage? That's just great. I don't have a PhD yet, and I'm not married, so what, I just don't exist?
How has our nation become so anti-intellectual? I have a hunch, and it has something to do with the Republican spin machine making all us liberals out to be "elite" braniacs who don't know anything about the real world. I think the issue is really that we're painted as this group of people who think we know better than others how their lives should be led. That we can't identify with "normal" people and for that reason we certainly shouldn't be telling them what to do. But we never wanted to tell other people what to do. At least I don't. The current administration doesn't seem that keen on it either, not compared with what we've had the last 8 years.
Some people have a problem with Dr. Jill Biden because they think that her being more somehow makes them less. It's interesting that these individuals aren't lessened by the use of Dr. Biden's hard-won title, but rather by their own needless complaints about it.
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