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This WSJ OpEd is hitting me so hard because I am a woman with a doctorate who doesn't use the word "Dr." in my professional life. And what I can tell you is that Every. Single. Woman. who has earned a doctorate has thought LONG AND HARD about whether or not to use that title.
I GUARANTEE you Dr. Biden has thought about this more than Epstein, and has very good reasons for calling herself Dr. Biden. Believe me, she considered whether it made her sound pretentious. Every. single. woman. who has ever earned a doctorate has thought this through.
You want to know why I don't call myself Dr.? Partly, because I work outside the academy & I'm often talking to kids about reading for pleasure, outside of the academic context, & an academic title doesn't always help. But mostly? Because people freaking hate me when I use Dr.
No, I am not exaggerating. Everyone hates a woman of color with a doctorate, and it's way worse when someone thinks I'm pretentious than when they think Jill Biden is pretentious. They are much happier taking a look at me and thinking "silly little girl," "probably the nanny"
or whatever the eff else people think when they look at a youngish Latina. You know what makes them REALLY uncomfortable? That I might actually be a very serious person who knows more than them about many a thing. I simply get further by playing down my credentials.
This is something that @katieorenst addresses so well! It is not lost on me that I choose not to use the title "Dr." because it makes it harder for me to get ahead when literally the most famous person in the history of my field used the title Dr. (Cat in the Hat, anyone?).
But the cold, hard truth is that in people's minds, it's possible for a white man calling himself "Dr." to be fun and write books about cats in hats. He gets to be serious without anyone questioning his likability. That's privilege right there.
When a Latina calls herself "Dr." it's immediately one or the other. Are you serious and academic or are you a fun person who can relate to children? Actually, it's both, thank you. But people are limited by stereotypes, and it's not professionally strategic for me to deal.
So I don't call myself "Dr."
But this is all to say, I promise you that Dr. Biden is using the title that is most strategic for her role. We all do.
But this is all to say, I promise you that Dr. Biden is using the title that is most strategic for her role. We all do.
