What's In A Name? (Round Two)

It was about a year ago that I wrote What's In A Name? Turns out that post was Round One, wherein this COW* mooed about pastoral nomenclature, particularly that male pastors are generally called Pastor Good, Pastor Martin, and Pastor Smith whereas ordained females are more often known as Pastor Kathy, Pastor Ann, and Pastor Beth. 

I didn't care for it. It struck me as infantilizing, belittling, even denigrating.

And, brother, sister, here we go again:

I'm disgusted with "the media" on a couple of fronts, and I won't go into detail on that except for this one issue. Currently we have three very well-known individuals running for the two most important jobs in the country and one person who recently withdrew from that race. Most of the media I consult refer to them as Trump, Vance, Biden and Kamala.

Huh? And why has Kristina** let this slide?

The NYT is the exception. As annoyed as I've been with them recently, they continue to use titles for people they write about, i.e., Mr. Trump, Mr. Vance, Mr. Biden, and Ms. Harris. 

Come on. Could we have some equality here? Some gender-nonspecific respect? Seriously?


*Cranky Old Woman

**A "somewhat" outspoken friend


PS: Unrelated, but a source of joy is the new knowledge that when Ms. Harris was a Senator, the softball team made up of her office staff was 


wait for it


The OXFORD KAMALAS!



 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yes this has been driving me nuts. On one hand it might demonstrate Madam VP's approachablness and relative youth, but it seems beyond disrespectful and so inappropriate.

The softball team name however is perfect.

Ceci
JustGail said…
I totally agree with you. And I suspect Anonymous has it right - females are expected to be "likeable" above almost any other qualification for office.

Oxford Kamalas...love it!
Barbara Anne said…
I want Mr Trump, Mr Vance, President Biden, and VP Harris as those are their proper titles. Love the softball team's name, picture, and those happy faces.

Heaven help us all between now and Nov. 5.

Hugs!
Nann said…
Love the team name! (I'm sure the Nitpickers would like to know.)
But more to the point: you are right about the use of women's first names/no title in contast to men's surnames with title. Probably some people are flummoxed that she is not Mrs. Emhoff.
The other disrespect is the pronunciation of her name. (Remember how George H. W. Bush always said "Eye-ran" and "Eye-rack"?)
Shelina said…
I did notice that the media keeps calling her Kamala, and the sad thing is that I have followed suit. I agree that we all need to be more careful because it is based on gender.
Quiltdivajulie said…
But have you seen her campaign bus? Her first name fills the side of the bus from the roofline to the very bottom of the luggage holds.