Call Me Doctor Esquire

A silly controversy about Doctor Jill Biden surfaced after a WSJ op-ed criticized her for adopting the honorific. The op-ed starts off rather patronizing:

Madame First Lady—Mrs. Biden—Jill—kiddo: a bit of advice on what may seem like a small but I think is a not unimportant matter. Any chance you might drop the “Dr.” before your name? “Dr. Jill Biden ” sounds and feels fraudulent, not to say a touch comic.

Predictably, the op-ed was roundly criticized for being sexist, misogynistic, blah blah. Those hot takes are all over the internet. I personally thought the op-ed was unnecessary, and the tone was needlessly insulting. But this was also the first time I thought about "Dr. Jill Biden". I think most people assume that anyone who goes by the title "Doctor" is some sort of physician; that was certainly my assumption about Jill Biden. I think it's also safe to assume that the exceptions to this assumption are relegated primarily to academic settings where someone introduced as "Doctor" is properly translated as "someone with a PhD". This was also the first time I ever heard of the Ed.D designation (Doctor of Education), and also found out that Shaquille O'Neal and Bill Cosby both have one.

Despite what I think of the op-ed, I agree with Eugene Volokh that it looks really silly. It's a bold move on Jill Biden's part, especially considering the relative ease by which one acquires a Ed.D. I have a Juris Doctor but I don't go around calling myself Doctor (or *shudder* Esquire) unless it's for comic relief.

I'd argue that if your designated honorific (e.g. Doctor) is prone to making your audience assume something that is untrue (e.g. you are a physician), you should probably refrain from adopting it unless you are ok with furthering that duplicity.

Bonus link: Two candidates for office sued the clerk to be able to use "Dr." on the ballots. One was a podiatrist, the other had a PhD. Both lost because the court just did not want to have to deal with that shit.