Now that I got you with the clickbait title:
Why do you think that with female candidates we tend to use their first name more than we do with male candidates?
With Hillary, it was to differentiate her from Bill Clinton. Otherwise it could be hard to tell President Clinton apart from Candidate Clinton, etc. With Harris, I’m not sure.
Well, with the two stipulated female candidates, it may have something to do with the fact that they each have unique first names (Kamala in particular). As noted previously, Hillary did so to differentiate herself from Bill.
I will note that Hillary almost exclusively used her first name in all her own campaign materials, whereas Kamala is using her surname in hers (i.e., all the signs I have seen read “Harris / Walz 2024” instead of “Kamala / Walz”).
You do see “Joe” references. But basically, I think Hillary and Kamala are more easily a recognizable brand than just “Clinton” or “Harris.” Trump, of course, has made “Trump” a brand, so it’s already out there. And “Donald” is nondescript.
What did Nicky Haley use primarily?
I just find, in general, it much more common to call men by their last names only than women. I could only think of a small handful of women where calling them by their last name didn’t seem odd. I’m not exactly sure why. Probably something sex/gender-based, but I don’t know.
Incidentally, with my Polish parents, I have never heard them refer to Hillary Clinton as “Hillary.” It’s always Clintonowa/Clintonova. But that clearly means “wife of Clinton.”
First names for females to denote their supposedly secondary nature, like using “girls” and “men”.
I hate it.
I think the sample size is small enough that it’s a bit hard to really see a pattern. And there are definitely some men who are referred to by their first names. Bernie Sanders being the obvious one. Also Mayor Pete.
A lot of it clearly just avoiding ambiguity. GWBush was rarely referred to just as “Bush”, because… which one?
AOC of course is usually referred to as an acronym. Where does that fit in?
Elizabeth Warren I feel like is usually referred to by both names… leaning towards last name if only one is to be used.
Jill Stein, similarly, is often referred to by both names, sometimes just the last name.
Melania and Ivanka are referred to as “Melania” and “Ivanka” both because their first names are for-all-intents-and-purposes unique, and because their last name clearly overlaps with someone else.
I can certainly believe that there’s some overall cultural hangover leftover from the idea that men are executives, and women are secretaries, and executives are called “Mr. (lastname)” while secretaries are called (firstname). But I suspect that that’s far less of a factor than just the need for easy and short unambiguous names. Oprah is unambiguous, so we call her Oprah. “Michelle” is not, so Michelle Obama is usually referred to as “Michelle Obama”.
I think both teams are using “Kamala” to draw attention to her ethnicity, but in opposite ways.
One reason is surely that, in Western society historically, women commonly change their last names, while men don’t.
Don’t forget one other candidate who went by his first name: Bernie Sanders.
I agree with Hillary it was primarily to distinguish her from Bill. You saw a lot more of people calling her “Clinton” as she became the dominant person with that name in the party.
With Bernie, I think it was the friendly vibe he was going for. Sanders sound distant and just kinda wrong.
With Kamala, I think it’s just the more unique name, and thus the easier brand. Sure, there’s no other Harris running in the Presidential race, but she’s been in politics a while. I’m sure her relatively unique name has helped her stand out.
To find patterns, I think we’d need to look more into other prominent female politicians. I imediatly thought of AOC, who gets an initialism because of her double-barrel last name being awkward to say. That made me think of MTG, who does not have a double-barrel last name, but marketed herself on all three names. And then that made me think of Boebert, whose first name escapes me. None of them go by their first name.
Are there others who do?
Sarah Palin was almost never referred to by her first name, it was either “Sarah Palin” or just “Palin”. Sarah is too common. Same with Nancy Pelosi.
Just as Joe and Donald are common, but Biden and Trump aren’t.
Kamala is an uncommon name while Harris is a very common last name. And as said before, Hillary was referred to by first name to differentiate her from her husband. Not to mention, it’s not a really common first name either.
I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that in all honesty. You also see other women like AOC or MTG referred to by their initials and rarely by their first name alone.
In other words, people are referred to by the names that are most distinctive. This happens outside of politics as well, in everyone’s daily lives. So why would politics be any different?
See also: “Amy Klobuchar.”
Good example.
With exceptions like Buttigieg, where the name is so distinctive that nobody knows how to say or spell it.
I’ve noticed it but I’ve been using Harris almost exclusively.
I did that to a lesser extent with HRC (most often Clinton or HRC but rarely plain ‘Hillary’) mainly to disambiguate from Bill.
But with women, is it more common to use both first and last name than just their last name?
Nikki Haley vs Trump. Amy Klobuchar vs Biden. And even with the rationalization for Hillary, it was “Hillary” like Cher and Adele, rarely “Hillary Clinton”.
No doubt, there’s some sexism involved but I think the novelty of a particular first name also dictates general preference. Kamala and Hillary are more distinctive than Harris or Clinton or Donald or Joe. Gingrich was likely called Newt more often than Pelosi was called Nancy.
Then he got better.
When referred to by others in speeches, Biden becomes “Joebiden” when he’s not “President Biden”. I’ve seen a lot of “Joe” signs and bumper stickers, with and without aviator shades, but mostly when I am in Rehoboth Beach.
No, he didn’t. He’s never gotten better. That witch knew her stuff…
I use multiple names, first, last, both together, and initials to minimize repetition, especially within the same sentence. The one combo I don’t use is Mrs. Clinton. I’ve read she’s OK with it but fear annoying others.