WSJ Op-ed Urges Biden’s Wife to Drop 'Dr' Title

Wall Street Journal Joseph Epstein published, Saturday, an op-ed article, criticizing incoming President-elect Joe Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden’s use of the honorific title “doctor”.

The article “Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.” by Epstein, an emeritus lecturer of English at Northwestern University, said: “Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic,” addressing Biden’s wife as “Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo.”

“Your degree is, I believe, an Ed.D., a doctor of education, earned at the University of Delaware through a dissertation with the unpromising title ‘Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs,’” Epstein wrote. “A wise man once said that no one should call himself ‘Dr.’ unless he has delivered a child.”

“Think about it, Dr. Jill, and forthwith drop the doc,” he added.

“As for your Ed.D., Madame First Lady, hard-earned though it may have been, please consider stowing it, at least in public, at least for now,” he concluded. “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.”

In the same vein, many public figures and others condemned, on Twitter, the Wall Street Journal for this op-ed, calling the piece of article “trash” and “misogynistic,” some people even said it is about "sexism."

[embed]https://twitter.com/darakass/status/1337768066541826048?s=08[/embed]

Chasten Buttigieg, husband of 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, said in a tweet:  “The author could’ve used fewer words to just say ‘ya know in my day we didn’t have to respect women.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/Chasten/status/1337776851423551489?s=08[/embed]

Fellow education scholars also came to the next First Lady defense, with Ebony Elizabeth Thomas of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education writing, “President and Dr. Biden will be how they are addressed. Period.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/Ebonyteach/status/1337832713055776769?s=08[/embed]

The next First Lady has worked as an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009, indicating that she planned to continue teaching even as first lady.

"If we get to the White House, I'm gonna continue to teach," she told “CBS Sunday Morning” in August. "It's important, and I want people to value teachers and know their contributions, and lift up the profession."