The two aren’t exclusive, nor do they necessarily always present themselves together. My mom isn’t the only one a little fired up by this year’s electoral wrangling. My new addiction is POTUS ‘08 on XM Radio. POTUS stands for “President of the United States” and is an XM Radio station devoted to all things 2008 election, presented from Democratic and Republican perspectives.
I’m not normally a person who’s sensitive the political correctness that dominates our times. At least I thought so.
This afternoon Rebecca Roberts interviewed Joel Kotkin, author of “Ohio and Texas: A Tale of Two States,” and I’m still shaking my head. Repeatedly, and I don’t recall an instance when he didn’t do this, Kotkin referred to Hillary Clinton as “Mrs. Clinton.” But Barack Obama was just “Obama.”
And I almost just typed, “I’m sorry.” I was going to say, I’m sorry for being picky, and sorry for noticing such a “small” nuance. But ya know what? I’m not sorry. In this day and age, and in this usage, I don’t think “Mrs.” was a sign of respect or deference. I’m not saying it was an outright and malicious sign of disrespect either. But I think it’s telling that a man would so easily say that.
It’s too easy for that to become a subliminal label of inferiority, like Mrs. Clinton is only worth the hill of beans she’s standing on because she’s a Mrs. who is attached to a Mr.
I am a Mrs. who is attached to a Mr., but you don’t need to know that or address me as such when you’re conversing in a business, academic, or other formal setting. When I’m writing a business memo or an article, I don’t refer to a researcher or professional as Mrs. Taylor or Mr. Taylor. Taylor is just fine.
I’m all for equality without overcorrection, but I also know when I’m being condescended to.
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