Why I make a point of calling her Vice President Harris

[bluewater]

Female friends have pointed out to me how male politicians are overwhelmingly referred to in two ways:

1. Their last name.
ex. Biden, Trump, Clinton, Bush

2. Their title and their last name.
ex. President Biden, President Kennedy

But female politicians are most often, by far, referred to by their first names only and as a fall back by their first and last names together.
ex. Hillary, Kamala,Nancy, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren.

Now, this might not be as hard and fast as they say, but it seems to be at least a very common pattern , which they think is deeply rooted in misogyny backhandedly belittling women politicians.

Hmmm.

Well, in any case, this gave me pause. lol

So, my digression aside, lets all get behind Vice President Harris and her 2024 Presidential Campaign.

[BlueTsunami2018]

1. I like MVP Harris.

I’ve been using that.

[Walleye]

2. You're absolutely right on that, however she has become a one-name person. That's a good thing.

And they do keep calling Biden Joe, course it is easier to spell. Calling her by her first name doesn’t irritate me as much as when they deliberately mispronounce it. That’s childish.

[wnylib]

3. Agree. Titles express and confer respect.

They are, therefore, often eliminated from women's names when addressing them or speaking about them.

We should use them as often as we do with men.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

4. I've been trying to stick with the last name, but sometimes forget

My wife pointed out that male politicians are always called by their last name, but women tend to be by their first (Hillary, Kamala, etc).
It seems infantilizing, so I try to stick with last name.

[spooky3]

5. This sexism (from both men and women) is common in many occupations

I was frequently addressed by my first name when my male colleagues (even those I outranked or supervised) were called “Prof. Smith” or “Dr. Smith.” It means they don’t see you as fully qualified or expert.

[bluewater]

7. Thanks for pointing out this is widespread in other fields too!

Excellent point.

[spooky3]

8. I wish it weren't widespread, but it is. Nt

[Skittles]

6. to be fair, I say Hillary so as not to be confused with Bill

otherwise, I agree

[bluewater]

9. Understood, but notice you didn't say Bill so as not to be confused with Hillary

Joking, mostly.

I just did this thought experiment on myself:

When I think of the statement "Hillary should be in charge of the DNC", I instantly think of Hillary Clinton.

But when I do the same for "Bill should be uncharge of the DNC" it seems off kilter to me.

It seems I have been conditioned to not associate male politicians with only their first names. lol

But hey, thanks for the discussion.

[Skittles]

11. you don't have to convince me of sexism

I've been on this planet for some time now....heck, the stories I could tell you about being a gal in the military in the 70's!!!

[bluewater]

12. Heh! LOL I am so non-sexist myself that I thought you were a guy! wait a minute...

Oh, no!

That makes me MORE sexist.

It really does.

Once again I am hoisted on my own petard, in this case incipient sexism.

In my defense, I was led astray by your avatar pic. lol

Hey, at least I wasn't mansplaining, right?

In all seriousness, thanks for the discussion and providing me the opportunity to examine my own prejudices and assumptions.

[Skittles]

13. I've been mistaken for a man many times on DU

it is never flattering LOLOL

[TwilightZone]

10. Not sure I'd totally agree.

I agree that this is a widespread issue, both in politics and elsewhere, but I'm not sure that some of the examples best illustrate it.

I see lots of Joe for the president; variations of Don and Donald (and *the* Donald) for Trump; and George W Bush was W to nearly everyone.

As for the flipside, I think Hillary was used by her supporters more than her detractors, though I'm also biased. And, her campaign committee was literally called "Hillary for America", so it's pretty hard to argue that references to her first name were being used primarily to belittle her.

I often use Kamala because I like the name and it's much more distinctive than Harris, though I'll just as often say VP Harris. It often depends on context.

[SocialDemocrat61]

14. A lot of people refer to Sanders as Bernie

I myself prefer to refer to elected officials by their last names. The faux familiarity of referring to them by their first names always seemed a bit too cult like for me.

[lame54]

15. I hear Joe all the time

Hillary may be because there is another Clinton
Elizabeth Warren is often Warren
Nikki Haley is Haley
Nancy Pelosi is both
Bernie is Bernie
Palin is Palin
Buttigieg is Pete or Mayor Pete

[3catwoman3]

16. The first 4 years of my peds nurse practitioner career were spent...

...on active duty in the Air Force nurse corps. I was always addressed by my rank - Lieutenant B, Captain B, and ultimately (in the reserves) Major B.

In my first civilian NP job, I had to make a choice. The nurse practitioner who had that job before me let herself be called "Dr. Ann." I wasn't comfortable with that, as it felt like I'd be misrepresenting myself. I wanted patients/parents to know exactly who/what they were getting.

Going all the way to just my first name felt too casual and intimate, and "Nurse M" sounded dorky.

I chose to be "Mrs. Pxxx." Neither kids not parents address either doctors or teachers by their first names. I liked the dignity and formality of a title, and thought it carried with it an air of competence and authority.

I do think the use of Kamala, Hillary, Nancy, Elizabeth, etc indicate both affection for and comfort with our impressive women politicians.

[Delmette2.0]

17. I use to belong to a local genealogy group.

One year we volunteered to digitize all the Death Registries in the state.

My last was

[ecstatic]

18. I try to show respect but sometimes I just want to quickly

identify someone without the full title. Sometimes I say KH. I'll try to be more consistent though.

As far as men, if their first name is recognizable enough and shorter than their last name, then I go with the first name (for example, Bernie).

There's a lot of Joes though. A lot of male names are way too common so referring to them by their first name would create confusion.