There's been some objection over the internet that addressing Hillary Clinton as "Hillary" is sexist. Given that everybody political is going to be talking and writing endlessly about Hillary, I'm somewhat glad that she can be called by several names--Hillary,Sen. Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Hillary Clinton, the junior senator from New York, and HRC among others.
But "Hillary is the big dog among Hillary names.
Mostly it's because that's how Hillary Clinton's campaign wants you to think of her. There are many reasons why this is the case.
1. "Hillary" has a connotation of familiarity and ease that HRC wants to promote as a substitute for Bill Clinton's or Barack Obama's charisma.
2. "Hillary" allows Hillary Clinton to pose herself as a political figure independent of her husband and former president Bill Clinton. Given that Hillary Clinton has achieved this independence the hard way by going through the Lewinsky scandal, running for the New York Senate seat, and slogging through eight hard years of Republican domination, I think she deserves to have that independence recognized throught the Hillary brand (as Dick Morris calls it).
3. Hillary has always been somewhat suspicious of adapting her husband's last name and only gave in after Bill lost a run for re-election in Arkansas. "Hillary" allows her to escape this indignity to her womanhood.
4. Like "Arnold" Schwarzenegger, "Hillary" reflects Hillary Clinton's status as a celebrity as well as a politician. Given that her celebrity status is one of her political assets, using "Hillary" as her name is a way to acknowledge her strength as a politician.
5. "Hillary" also fits the natural informality of internet writing.
"Hillary" would be sexist if it demeaned her accomplishments and dignity or reduced her to her attractiveness. But most of what Hillary does is convey a sense of comfortable leadership. Given that Hillary is the favorite, the name is doing its job.
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I agree with you. I believe that being able to refer to herself and have others refer to her as "Hillary" is a step forward, because when one hears "Hillary Clinton" she is immediately associated with her husband and many, my mother in particular, would assume what Bill believed is Hillary's belief and there is no seperation of them as two individual beings. It, like you stated, is also a way of her to sound much less formal, as a way of gaining trust and seeming more easy to connect to. I am aware that one argument is the fact that not many other politicians are refered to by anything but their last name. Well, many politicians are male, like Hillary's husband, and if she wishes to throw off the last name which she took on in order to get him re-elected, I say "why not?" I reflect on the what you wrote in saying it is an "indignity to her womanhood." Why should she have to rely on the name of her husband to gain election when she is clearly doing fine on her own?
Thanks. I thought you were right on the money with your last sentence about Hillary doing well on her own.
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