Attacks on Dr. Jill Biden Hurt Us All
By: Alisa Burris
Tags: Dr Jill Biden, Misogyny, First Lady, Power, Sexism

A few weeks ago, I wondered about the background of our newest First Lady. In my online research, I discovered that Dr. Jill Biden is quite an impressive individual. Personally, I felt the most inspired by the fact that she pursued her doctorate while just a few years older than me. I’m now in the midst of this grueling yet deeply rewarding experience myself. So I know the rigor and intense commitment necessary to reach that ultimate objective.

To complicate these challenges further, I intimately understand that it’s not easy to return to the academic world at middle age. Though the learning process is undeniably worthwhile, a certain self-consciousness remains when surrounded by more youthful students with longer career tracks ahead of them. Questions of belonging, of being able to keep up mentally, of not looking foolish before accomplished, significantly younger professors are all factors to contend with throughout the degree program.

Dr. Jill Biden navigated each one of these difficult areas, counseling herself through the inevitable doubts, to obtain her doctorate.

While I realize that she exists in a whole other realm than I’ll ever know, I can still relate to her on this very authentic level. Unlike our current president, who has been given everything and never once stretched himself to earn even the most miniscule morsel of his undeserved privilege, Dr. Biden had to prove herself, investing intellectual energy and immense self-discipline into attaining her multiple advanced degrees.

Sure, she might’ve enjoyed certain advantages that other graduate students couldn’t exactly achieve. The fact that she’s the wife of a famous, well-respected, nationally-known politician (and now the official President-Elect) must have had its benefits.

Despite this reality, though, I feel that even including such an admission diminishes the fact that Dr. Biden prevailed, that she demonstrated the focus and the drive to grasp her goal. For years, Dr. Biden had to work incredibly hard, living and breathing her studies, writing and rewriting as if it were her lifeblood, researching each and every complex nuance of her field.

After all, her degrees aren’t of the honorary sort. They’re the real deal.

So with that appreciation firmly in place, Joseph Epstein’s December 11th commentary in The Wall Street Journal comes across as just plain vicious, a deliberate disregard for Dr. Biden’s academic success. His piece titled “Is There a Doctor in the White House? Not if You Need an M.D.” attacks Dr. Biden for how she identifies herself as a college professor. In Epstein’s view, it’s unsuitable for her to use the word “Doctor” before her name because it “feels fraudulent.”

Indeed, I’d argue that the dishonesty he pinpoints is a projection of his own deceit. Because Dr. Biden merits this title due to the degree she holds, Epstein’s objections slither much deeper than honorifics. His protests, dripping in immense condescension, are more basic, more offensive than some quibble on his part about whether “Dr.” is the appropriate abbreviation to precede her name.

It all comes down to pure, relentless, absolutely despicable sexism.

Although Epstein seems to think it’s logical to explain, in a flip, demeaning manner, mind you, that only medical professionals have the right to call themselves doctors, his misogyny couldn’t be more obvious. If Dr. Biden were a man, this commentary would never have been written, not envisioned for a split second.

That’s because, even if Epstein has no actual awareness of this truth beyond his sexist instincts, men are automatically assumed to be the bearers of any sort of power, from titles of authority on up. In our oppressive society, where unenlightened men somehow maintain a strong voice in a woman’s so-called place, it wouldn’t seem the least bit unnatural for a man with an academic doctorate to insert “Dr.” in front of his name if he wished.

But according to Epstein’s perspective, still a commonly accepted one, a sixty-nine-year-old woman, an experienced educator with advanced degrees, the upcoming First Lady of the United States of America, has no right to define herself on her own terms. Her secondary role as the wife of the president should supersede her personal identity. So that “Dr.” must be dropped, done away with as a conflict, a confusing complication that has no business corrupting the delicate nature of a First Lady.

Of course, there are exceptions.

In all likelihood, a column about Melania Trump’s salacious modeling history never gained The Wall Street Journal’s attention. However controversial and culturally improper for a First Lady, Trump stayed within the boundaries of expected womanhood by using her body, enticing the male-oriented lens of our society to feast upon her sexiness. Her choice for gaining financial security met that unstated criteria of pure eye candy, even if she happened to epitomize more substance than such a superficial image assumed.

Dr. Jill Biden is, in fact, breaking the mold, not just by using a title that obviously intimidates some people, but because she illustrates her own wholeness beyond this new political role. Yes, she’s the latest First Lady to enter the White House. Yet Dr. Biden is not President-Elect Joe Biden’s shadow either. Instead, she is a highly educated woman with an extensive teaching career that she’ll continue during her husband’s presidency, something separate from his leadership position.

And that’s a good thing. It’s excellent that we now have a First Lady who can give our country a whole other viewpoint on this political function. Future spouses of the president will have more breathing room to be themselves, to interpret the role more freely, while serving in the White House. Eventually, when a woman gains the nation’s highest responsibility, possibly accompanied by her husband, he’ll have greater flexibility, too. The stigma that will come with his not possessing the primary position as president won’t be as severe because Dr. Biden shattered the constricted norms.

So Epstein’s baseless, disrespectful attack on Dr. Biden is, quite simply, hurtful to our society. The damage he causes extends the caustic, unnecessarily debasing treatment of women that our lame-duck president promotes with such toxic glee. And Epstein’s sexist criticism sends the wrong message with his patronizing reduction of Dr. Biden’s identity. Not only does he suggest that Dr. Biden squeeze herself into a mere silhouette at her husband’s side, but, in the process, he also indirectly informs all women that they should never aspire for anything more than a subordinate capacity within their own marriages.

Additionally, Epstein’s attitude harms men’s outlook on American womanhood. By chiding Dr. Biden, trivializing the field of education, her doctorate’s concentration, he tells male readers that they can belittle women’s ambitions as well. His permission to be closed-minded, to regard women who wish for more than domestic responsibilities alone as somehow defective, embraces ignorance and needless hostility.

I’m inspired by Dr. Jill Biden and I think we should view her in a very positive, uplifting light. She unquestionably deserves respect for determining her own path, for initiating a new way to regard the First Lady and all forms of American womanhood in general. So I feel confident in saying that her presence will make this country better and much more inclusive for each and every one of us.