By Nadine Province
Is there a reason why when you reference all the other male members of the City Council, you call them by their last name.
But with the mayor, you refer to her by her first name?
That's either disrespectful, sexist or both.
[Editor’s Note: The letter-writer asked that her email address not be published.]
Ari Noonan responds to Ms. Province:
We are guilty of adhering to a journalistic tradition that dates to pre-sexist times, before victimhood ardently was pursued, celebrated and automatically elevated to pristine sainthood by the Left. Tradition dictated using the shortest, most recognizable form of a person’s name, whether he was of the male persuasion, the female persuasion or Other. You may recall our 16th President was known as Honest Abe, not Honest Lincoln. He never charged sexism. A more recent successor was known to headline writers as Ike. He did not charge sexism.
The mayor’s hyphenated name consumes considerably more space in a headline than her distinctive first name. Her first name resonates far more than the first names of colleagues, Jim, Jeff and Andy. You may recall the vice mayor, too, has been referred to in headlines by his first name. No one of the male persuasion complained it was sexist. Before sexist booms are lowered, critics should consider an infinitely more significant fact: This newspaper is the only one hereabouts that uses honorifics for all men and women above high school age. This practice is rooted in a 1981 obituary for my mother. She was referred to as “Noonan.” I took umbrage. For the past 33 years, I have used honorifics in texts wherever I had the authority to apply them.
