Hillary Rodham Clinton. What's in a title? Should the media refer to Hillary Rodham Clinton as Ms. In this Dec. By Wanda Warren Berry. Honorifics are titles that usually go with a surname to lend a tone of courtesy, for example, Mr. Often an inherited or earned title functions as an honorific: e. In a democratic culture, such titles are unnecessary, especially in addressing envelopes.
Orally, however, they seem necessary when a relationship justifying use of the first name is lacking. Honorifics developed in earlier times when they helped perpetuate class systems. Hughes always were "Mrs. While class-based implications of honorifics mostly have been left behind, gender politics sometimes still play out in their use with women's names.
The popular practice of speaking of one current candidate for president as "Hillary" bypasses the problem of speaking of "Mrs. William Jefferson Clinton. The women's movement had some success in the second half of the 20th century in arguing for "Ms. When properly applied, "Mrs. In the past, using "Mrs. The complaint that "Ms. Currently, there are different media practices for naming Hillary Rodham Clinton. Associated Press articles usually use those three names initially, followed later simply by "Clinton.
Until the latter part of the 20th century, most women found no culturally acceptable alternative to taking their husband's surname when marrying. Some joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who back in added "Stanton" to her own name, rather than accepting the conventions that went with "Mrs. Nevertheless, confusion about honorifics is shown today when women who never took their husband's names are sometimes referred to with the "Mrs.
Traditional usage is being reinforced by some popular television shows that deliberately perpetuate the "Mrs. Florrick" because of her husband's power in spite of Alicia and Peter having been separated from the show's beginning.
