WSJ op-ed urging Jill Biden to drop “Dr.” title draws flak

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The Wall Street Journal and writer Joseph Epstein drew flak over the weekend after publishing an op-ed arguing that Jill Biden should drop the ‘Dr.’ title.
• Numerous public professionals have denounced the piece and defended the incoming First Lady.
• The Hill has already reached out to the Wall Street Journal for comment.

The Wall Street Journal’s op-ed published on Friday received public backlash after suggesting that incoming first lady Jill Biden should not use the ‘Dr.’ title. Numerous public figures came into the rescue of the President-elect’s wife, saying that the piece was “misogynistic.”

Penned by Joseph Epstein, an essayist and short-story writer, the article started by calling Biden as “Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo,” adding that “‘Dr. Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent.”

“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,” he added.

He then urged Biden to ponder on it and “drop the doc.”

“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,” the author wrote, adding, “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 op-ed became a hot trending topic online on Saturday afternoon, as “Joseph Epstein” became the No. 1 and “Dr. Biden” the No. 3 top trending Twitter topics nationwide.

Various professionals, ranging from medical doctors to Ph.D. holders came to Twitter to condemn Epstein’s piece.

“The author could’ve used fewer words to just say “ya know in my day we didn’t have to respect women,” wrote Chasten Buttigieg, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg’s husband, on Twitter Saturday.

Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education tweeted: “President and Dr. Biden will be how they are addressed. Period.”

“After calling Dr. Biden kiddo & dismissing her dissertation on support for community college education, we have to endure a long brag because the author took his final exam on a pool table on a military base. Tired of the misogyny,” said US attorney and professor Joyce Vance on Twitter.

“Mr. Epstein is clearly making up for something. Dr. Biden can absolutely use her honorific. It was not bestowed upon her, she earned it. Those of us with MD will not suffer for her using it. #misogynist much?” tweeted Dr. Cathleen London Saturday.

Epstein said that he was a teacher at Northwestern University for three decades without getting a post-bachelor degree. The university, though, clarified that he was an emeritus lecturer of English but did not reach “nearly 20 years.”

Source: The Hill