Is this sexist?

[uppityperson]

Poll question: Is this sexist?

Hillary. Nancy. Cindy. Gore. Kucinich. Edwards?

Edited to add the final "No, for reasons explained below" option per request

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Newt. Rush. Mitt?

[goddess40]

2. of course it is

They do it here for our city council and I find it quite condescending.

[CT_Progressive]

3. Clinton.

Wait, which one, Bill or Hillary ? Ta Da! Simple explanation.

I've equally seen "Nancy" and "Pelosi", and likewise "Cindy" and "Sheehan".

I've also equally seen "Barak" and "Obama".

"Al". Little vague there. "Gore". Oh, yeah, him.

"Joe" ? Joe who? Oh, you mean "Biden".

"Dennis". OK, not many of those, but "Kucinich" is clearer.

"John". "No thanks, I already went before we left the house." "Edwards". Yeah, ok, now I know who you're talking about.


Try to think before you post stuff like this.

[dorkulon]

9. Concur.

Not everything is a conspiracy to make women feel weak.

[uppityperson]

10. I don't think Bill is running for president.

"Ms. Clinton" works for me when referring to her. Thanks for contributing and being so supportive and progressive.

[Rhythm and Blue]

14. Have you looked at her website?

She prefers to go by "Hillary."

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/

[SmokingJacket]

11. She's right though -- in the culture at large women are

referred more often by their first names and men more often by their last.

What is the meaning of this, if any? I don't know. But one could speculate and be justified in doing so.

[Tesha]

4. With Clinton, you need to disambiguate Bill versus Hillary..

Bill is still pretty current in politics, so you can't
easily assume which Clinton is being spoken of if one
simply says "Clinton".

With Polosi, I think it's probably condescending at best
and maybe a slur (think "Nancy boy") at worst.

Tesha

[Rhythm and Blue]

5. No. Not at all.

Run, Al, Run! Give 'em hell, Harry! :eyes:

Seriously, looking at the front page here, Pelosi is more frequently used than Nancy, and when Nancy is used, it's generally in a positive light. Hillary prefers to go by that name instead of by Clinton. Cindy Sheehan's supporters are the ones who popularized calling her "Cindy."

Al Gore is frequently referred to as "Al," and Barack is by his name as well.

Plus, female names are often more, well, memorable. Edwards is not called "John" for obvious reasons; there are too many Johns out there. When you get a somewhat-unique male name--such as Mitt, Barack, Rush, or Rudy--you'll find them frequently referred to as such.

[Mythsaje]

6. Hillary self-identifies with her first name.

I see Pelosi identified by her last name more often than her first. WAY more often.

"Clinton" could mean either Hillary or Bill. "John" could mean Edwards OR McCain.

Sorry...I just don't see it.

[Tesha]

7. Posting "leading" polls, BTW, is not the best technique.

Allowing a humorous reply or two is fine, but you
should have also included a simple "No, for reasons
explained below."

Tesha

[uppityperson]

13. edited and added.

Part that gets me is NOT when Ms. Clinton refers to herself as Hillary, but when people continue to compare Hillary with Edwards, or talk about Nancy, then Gore.

[Tesha]

22. Thank you. (NT)

[Milo_Bloom]

8. Of course not.

Especially when it is the candidate themselves who are pushing the name or does it not say "Hilary for President" on the front page of her website?

As for the others, I have seen an equal amount of first and last name useages on DU.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

12. yes.

[TahitiNut]

15. I personally regard the woman's name change in marriage to be sexist.

At the same time, my HIGHER principle impels me to respect choice in that matter. That said, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi were BORN with their first names and their last names are ADOPTED from their husbands. If I'm to (literally) nominate them with respect for their inherent individuality, particularly when THEY USE THEIR FIRST NAMES as nominal identifiers, I'll mirror their choices or select the first name when the choice is ambivalent.

I've nearly always seen the adoption of the husband's surname as a throwback to the days of chattel and loss of individuality. I'd personally prefer a naming convention that was coequally matrilineal and patrilineal. (I see no overwhelming reason that both Hillary and Chelsea wouldn't use 'Rodham' as their surname - or whatever Hillary's mother's "maiden" name was.)

[Clark2008]

16. It could be... but it also may not be.

Most women still take their husband's last names (not all... most) and, thus, lose who THEY are, so, by identifying them by their first names allows them to retain themselves, not be an extention of their husbands.

That said... I still voted "Yes." I call her HRC as to not confuse her with Bill.

[youthere]

17. Silly Uppity Female?

I do not believe it to be sexist, nor do I believe you to be a silly uppity female-despite your screen name.I also don't consider addressing this issue to be "ragging".It's a fair question, and for the record, I most often refer to her as Senator Clinton.

[Totally Committed]

18. Boxer, Mikulski, Feinstein?

Teddy, Lamar, Zell

JFK, RFK, MLK, HRC

You could make a case for just about anything...

TC

[TwilightZone]

19. Hillary has self-identified with her first name for most of her political life.

My sister has a signed t-shirt from Bill Clinton's campaign in '92 that says, "Vote for Hillary's husband".

[damntexdem]

20. If you have to ask, it likely is.

[WildEyedLiberal]

21. I think "Nancy" is sexist, but not "Hillary"

For the sole reason that "Clinton" will always mean "Bill Clinton" in people's minds, thus "Hillary" to differentiate her from her husband.

I don't see any reason at all why people should refer to Pelosi as "Nancy," however, unless they are in a habit of personalizing all politicians (Al, Dennis, Howard, John, etc)

[alcibiades_mystery]

23. Absolutely

And obviously.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. My theory is that there are so few women that are high profile national political figures...

That we can distinguish them by their first names.

Perhaps that is what needs to be remedied.

[applegrove]

25. doesn't Hilllary's campaign want her to be known as Hillary? That is the

impression I get. I often see Pelosi instead of Nancy. Cindy is Cindy. Haven't seen much of her on the boards lately.