An opinion column in The Wall Street Journal came under fire over the weekend for asking educator and incoming first lady Jill Biden 鈥� who two master's degrees and a doctorate in education 鈥� to stop using the title "Dr."
In the evening, writer and former editor of The American Scholarmagazine Joseph Epstein urged Biden to drop the title, a message that public figures and women in academia panned on Twitter as misogynistic both in substance and tone.
"Madame First Lady 鈥� Mrs. Biden 鈥� Jill 鈥� kiddo," begins the piece. "Any chance you might drop the 'Dr.' before your name? 'Dr. Jill Biden' sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic."
Biden earned her doctorate from the University of Delaware in 2007. Biden's biography describes the dissertation as focusing on "maximizing student retention in community colleges." Epstein disparaged the title of that dissertation as "unpromising."
"A wise man once said that no one should call himself 'Dr.' unless he has delivered a child," he continued. "Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc."
Epstein went on to argue that the prestige of Ph.D.s and honorary degrees has been diminished by political correctness and the relaxation of academic standards, before urging Biden to "forget the small thrill of being Dr. Jill, and settle for the larger thrill of living for the next four years in the best public housing in the world as First Lady Jill Biden."
The backlash was swift.
Northwestern University, where Epstein wrote that he had taught for 30 years, issued a saying it "strongly disagrees with Mr. Epstein's misogynistic views" and noting he has not been a lecturer there since 2003. The university's English department said in a separate that it rejects the opinion piece "as well as the diminishment of anyone's duly-earned degrees in any field, from any university."
Biden's called the piece a "disgusting and sexist attack" in a tweet that addressed Wall Street Journal editors directly, adding, "If you had any respect for women at all you would remove this repugnant display of chauvinism from your paper and apologize to her."
The Wall Street Journal has not responded to NPR's request for comment.
"What patronizing, sexist, elitist drivel," Kate Bedingfield, the president-elect's communications director. "Dr. B earned a doctorate in education, so we call her Doctor. The title Mr. Epstein has earned here is perhaps not fit for mixed company."
Other voices from the Democratic Party weighed in on Twitter, expressing support for Biden and slamming the op-ed as misogynistic.
"The author could've used fewer words to just say "ya know in my day we didn't have to respect women," Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, wrote in a that has since garnered more than 87,000 likes.
Dr. Biden earned her degrees through hard work and pure grit. She is an inspiration to me, to her students, and to Americans across this country. This story would never have been written about a man.
— Doug Emhoff (@DouglasEmhoff)
Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, praised Biden's "hard work and pure grit" in a on Saturday, adding, "This story would have never been written about a man."
Other prominent voices shot down the idea that the title "Dr." should only apply to medical doctors.
The Merriam-Webster dictionary noted in a Saturday that the word "doctor" comes from the Latin word for "teacher," which the dictionary said first described theologians.
Bernice King, minister and daughter of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., reminded Biden in a that her father was a nonmedical doctor.
"And his work benefited humanity greatly," King wrote. "Yours does, too."
Epstein's article struck a particular chord among women in academia, who took to Twitter with their own and .
Are you a woman with a doctorate? No matter your discipline, drop a picture here to show that we are here, we exist, and we won't drop our title for any mediocre man's comfort.
— Dr Claudia Antolini 馃寣馃殌#BLM she/her 馃惎 (@CA_AstroComm)
Scores of women with doctorate degrees "Dr." to their Twitter names in an act of solidarity. Many did so alongside the hashtag , encouraged by academics including archaeologist .
Added 'Dr' to my profile, wearing my doctorate with pride. So and other bitter misogynists can crawl back to the 1930s. Doctorates are not easy, should be proud of her achievements. Being First Lady doesn't and should not mean reducing who you are!
— Dr. Yemisi Akinbobola (@DrYemisi)
Biden famously at Northern Virginia Community College while serving as second lady from 2008 to 2016, and plans to continue teaching after President-elect Joe Biden takes office. In a with NPR, Biden said she did not talk about her political role in the classroom.
"I think I have a separate role there as an English teacher and that's who I want to be," she said. "I want to be Dr. B, their English teacher."
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