The Proper Title for a Woman
I recently had to fill out a registration form for a
conference. One of the questions
surprised me; it asked how I wanted to be addressed. I put down the Marchioness of Ormond. After all, the position is open. The 7th (and last) Marquess of
Ormond died in 1997 (God rest him) leaving no one to inherit. Since the Marquess is also the 25th
Earl of Ormond, holder of the longest title in Ireland it seems to me that they
would be happy to have the seat occupied.
My husband is Thomas Butler. It
was a Thomas Butler who was named Earl of Ormand by Henry VIII and reappointed
by Elizabeth I, so under these sketchy circumstances, I have decided I would be
as good a Marchioness as the next person.
There are
times when a title does say something more about a person than the accident of
their birth. One of those is titles is
that of “Doctor.” If we talk bare
minimums here, becoming a doctor involves 4 years of university in pre-med;
followed by 4 years of medical school, 3 years of residency and a couple more
years for a specialty. So, if you get
through all of this (some time in your early 30’s when others have been
gainfully employed for a decade) you have a title that you have earned and paid
for.
If you have
not only earned that title, but have then distinguished yourself enough to be
invited to medical conferences known as “Grand Rounds” it is nice to hear
yourself introduced as “Dr. Louise Butler.”
Except, that might not happen—if you are a woman. In a Mayo Clinic study of 124 Grand Rounds
conferences from 2012 to 2014, men were introduced as “Doctor” 72% of the time,
but women were given their proper title only 49% of the time. We are not talking about instances throughout
the entire conference, we are talking about the initial introduction, the time
when setting credentials is both appropriate and essential. I am not a foaming-at-the-mouth, rabid feminist
but, folks, this just isn’t right.
Nor is this
latent diminution of women a problem confined to the medical community. In 1976 I completed my first master’s degree
(I have one in school administration and one in economics and am heartily proud
of both). I was one of a gaggle of four
teachers in my school to complete our masters’ that summer. When school started that fall and we had our “Meet
the Teacher” night our principal introduced us as always and, when he got to
the male physical education teacher he added the wonderful news that “Mr. Jones
is starting work on his master’s degree this year!” Applause.
Our principal knew that I and three other women had completed
their degrees, but had not mentioned one of us.
He wasn’t being cruel, he was being an ignorant boob. But ignorance is something that you can
correct. At the completion of the
introductions I walked up to the microphone, took it from him with a smile and
a thank you and said “I have been asked to introduce the four ladies who have completed
their master’s degrees this summer.” And
I did. Big applause.
I didn’t need
a law passed. I didn’t need to use
profanity, demand an all-women teacher’s meeting and I sure as Hell didn’t need
to be given a “safe” space. I just needed
to act to correct a wrong and did so in a way that saved a little face.
When the
Marchioness speaks, keep the faith.
Comments