Jill Biden receives huge support from netizens after op-ed askes her to drop 'Dr.' title

After the Wall Street Journal published an op-ed urging US First Lady Jill Biden to drop the “Dr.” title, several internet users criticised the opinion piece and flooded Twitter with #MyTitleIsDr. In the article, the writer made ‘sexist’ remarks and argued that the First Lady-elect should drop ‘Dr.’ in her title that she earned after her doctorate from the University of Delaware in 2007 because according to the writer, she is not a ‘medical doctor’. The writer referred to 69-year-old as “kiddo” and called her doctoral thesis as “unpromising”. 

The column promoted reactions from thousands of netizens who had united in defence of US First-Lady-elect. Several internet users trashed the media outlet as well for publishing ‘sexist’ article on Jill Biden in the first place. The op-ed also prompted reactions from Biden’s team, and other like former first ladies Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

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Michelle Obama wrote, “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”. Former First Lady and Presidential Candidate Clinton also tweeted in support of Jill Biden. Further, researchers and physicians from across the globe tweeted about how difficult it is to get a PhD. While some added hashtags #MyTitleIsDr, other used #DrJillBiden in a bid to talk about their experiences. 

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Paper defends op-ed 

Meanwhile, Paul Gigot, who is responsible for the paper’s opinion section, backed the decision to run the op-ed written by Joseph Epstein. While Gigot wrote in a follow-up op-ed on Saturday that Biden supporters reacted in a “very Trumpian” manner, Epstein had suggested US First Lady-elect drop ‘Dr.’ in her title because she is not in the field of medicine. Gigot even accused the Biden media team of elevating ‘Epstein’s work’ as ‘political strategy’.

"The complaints (about the article) began as a trickle but became a torrent after the Biden media team elevated Mr Epstein's work in what was clearly a political strategy," wrote Gigot. “Why go to such lengths to highlight a single op-ed on a relatively minor issue? My guess is that the Biden team concluded it was a chance to use the big gun of identity politics to send a message to critics as it prepares to take power. There's nothing like playing the race or gender card to stifle criticism," he added.

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