Senator Clinton

While perusing my regular morning blogs today, in an attempt to more productively procrastinate, I ran across this guest blogger at Bad Astronomy.

Coincidentally, I had, just last week, decided to force myself to stop calling Senator Clinton "Hillary" in conversation. Just as Mrs. BA writes, I decided that this was just a manifestation of disrespect and the inherent misogyny of our electoral politics, and of our world in general, i.e. women in positions of power (though there really aren't any) can be spoken of using only their first names, while men must be called by their last name, their title, or some dudely nickname, like "Dubya," or "Brownie," or "Governator."

Some commenters on BA's blog have said that Senator Clinton, herself, promotes this Hillary-ing by using her first name as her brand. This is true. Her website, her promotional materials, and her campaign are all about "Hillary in '08," etc. I suppose this is her perogative. It is HER campaign after all.

I still choose to try not to do so, and I find it a sad comment on our society that she finds it acceptable, even desirable. It simply illustrates that Senator Clinton is no less subject to the demands of patriarchy than any of us are. I hope to find out if she will support or encourage change when she is elected by demanding some fucking respect.