Is there a Journalist in the Wall Street Journal? Not if you need unbiased journalism.
By: Inigo Bigot
Tags: Dr Jill Biden, Joseph Epstein, Gender, The Wall Street Journal, First Lady

Screenshot by Inigo Bigot

Joseph Epstein writes in his Wall Street Journal article “Is there a Doctor in the White House? Not if you need an M.D.” that, “The Ph.D. may once have held prestige, but that has been diminished by the erosion of seriousness and the relaxation of standards in university education generally, at any rate outside the sciences.” This appears to be the main point of his opinion piece, along with his disapproval of the proliferation of honorary degrees. It is an opinion shared by many in academia and elsewhere and there are some quite reasonable arguments in support of it.

So, why pick on Dr Jill Biden? Is it just opportunism? Is Epstein merely using the elevation of Biden to First Lady status to draw attention to his argument? If so, it is in my opinion a grave misjudgement. The upshot is that his argument is lost in a morass of gender politics. Epstein may or may not be sexist, he may or may not be out of step with the current gender paradigm, but his words suggest he is. He seems to be calling for a return to days when a woman’s role is merely to support her husband, a time when women were encouraged to stand back and keep out of ‘serious affairs’.

His editor, Paul Gigot, chose attack as the Wall Street Journal’s best means of defence, writing, “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.”

I would argue that it is, in fact, Epstein who has (perhaps unwittingly, very likely not) played the gender card. First, he dismisses Dr Biden’s PhD on the basis that its subject is education. Well, education is a profession that statistically draws more women than men. Then, he belittles her dissertation, on the basis of its “unpromising title “Student Retention at the Community College Level: Meeting Students’ Needs.”” Caring for students (read: young people) is traditionally more the province of women than men.

Putting to one side his specious argument that only a medical doctor should use the tile Dr., his choice of Dr Jill Biden as a prime example of the lowering of academic standards smacks of regressive notions about one, the need for the First Lady to allow her new role to overshadow all her other achievements and activities, and two, the role of women in society more broadly.

If Mr Epstein wishes to be considered a serious journalist, he should not allow gender bias to infiltrate his argument. If The Wall Street Journal wishes to be considered a serious news source, it should not publish poorly constructed op-eds. Gigot writes that, “Mrs. Biden is now America’s most prominent doctorate holder and is taking a leading role in education policy. She can’t be off-limits for commentary.” I agree, but a major news publication should ensure the commentary be worthwhile, useful, and unprejudicial.