AN opinion piece in the US Wall Street Journal advising President-elect Joe Biden's wife, Dr Jill Biden, to drop the "Dr" before her name, has ignited a firestorm online and a response from the First Lady-elect herself.

 

What did the article say?

A column in the publication by 83-year-old essayist and former professor at Northwestern University in Illinois, Joseph Epstein, referred to the former Second Lady - who will be the First Lady when her husband moves into the Oval Office in January - as "Madame First Lady - Mrs Biden - Jill - kiddo" and then went on to offer "a bit of advice" about her title.

 

The advice was….?

Epstein wrote: “Any chance you might drop the ‘Dr’ before your name? ‘Dr Jill Biden’ sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic. 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.’”

 

In conclusion?

He added that “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.”

 

It sparked a massive backlash online?

A raft of public figures criticised the column, including Dr Biden’s director of communications, Elizabeth Alexander, who branded the article “sexist and shameful”, while Hiillary Clinton tweeted: “Her name is Dr Jill Biden. Get used to it.” Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, wrote: “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.”

 

A former First Lady agreed?

Michelle Obama, who was First Lady when Dr Biden was Second Lady, wrote on Instagram: “For eight years, I saw Dr Jill Biden do what a lot of professional women do - successfully manage more than one responsibility at a time, from her teaching duties to her official obligations in the White House to her roles as a mother, wife, and friend. And right now, we’re all seeing what also happens to so many professional women, whether their titles are Dr., Ms., Mrs., or even First Lady: All too often, our accomplishments are met with skepticism, even derision.”

 

The newspaper defended its article?

Editorial page editor, Paul Gigot, wrote in a column at the weekend that Epstein's words had been "fair comment" and that a doctorate "isn't sacrosanct or out-of-bounds for debate". He added that the use of the word "kiddo" - which had ired many online as condescending - was not unlike how Dr Biden's husband referred to her.

 

Meanwhile?

Northwestern removed Epstein's page from its site, where he was previously listed as an emeritus lecturer of English, saying the university is "firmly committed to equity" and "strongly disagrees with Epstein's misogynistic views".

 

What did the First Lady-elect say?

In a post liked nearly 700,000 times, Dr. Biden said on Twitter, evidently in response to the article: "Together, we will build a world where the accomplishments of our daughters will be celebrated, rather than diminished.”