Progressive rockstar Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has castigated Republicans for not being more formal when addressing female public figures, prompting Twitter users to suggest that the Democrat should take her own advice.
Ocasio-Cortez, commonly known as AOC, took to Twitter on Friday to air her grievances with Republicans’ use of “nicknames or first names” when referring to non-male colleagues, claiming that such informalities “advertise their disrespect of women.”
The New York congresswoman then launched into an unsolicited lesson on what she called “basic respect 101.”
I wonder if Republicans understand how much they advertise their disrespect of women in debates when they consistently call women members of Congress by nicknames or first names while using titles & last names when referring to men of = stature.Women notice. It conveys a lot.
“Government colleagues referring to each other in a public or professional context (aka who don’t know me like that) should refer to their peers as ‘Congresswoman,’ ‘Representative,’” she wrote.
AOC is a name given to me by community & the people. Y’all can call me AOC.Government colleagues referring to each other in a public or professional context (aka who don’t know me like that) should refer to their peers as “Congresswoman,” “Representative,”etc. Basic respect 101
The tweets appear to have been provoked by President Donald Trump’s penchant for using first names or nicknames while speaking about US government officials. He is known to address Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as simply “Nancy.”
Her etiquette tips received voracious applause from her supporters. One presumably female commenter claimed that “they don’t respect us enough to say our full names.”
Exactly. They don’t respect us enough to say our full names.
Another AOC fan urged the lawmaker to “keep drilling” the Republicans on the issue, expressing hope that “we will eventually smash the white patriarchy.”
Keep on drilling them on this one. We will eventually smash the white patriarchy and when we do the angels will sing ❤️?
However, not everyone oozed with admiration over AOC’s Twitter proclamation. Multiple observers asked AOC how she felt about people referring to recently deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as “RBG.” One Twitter user discovered that Ocasio-Cortez has herself used the informal nickname while referring to the Supreme Court justice in a “public context,” seemingly breaking her own rules.
aoc truly specializes in faux outrage. my eyes are incapable of rolling any harder than they are now. pic.twitter.com/NJDzwrFRd1
Did you find it disrespectful when both the public and government colleagues at large referred to RBG as RBG? Asking b/c I did not.
Others claimed that AOC violated her own etiquette guidelines in an accusatory tweet directed at Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, in which she used neither “congresswoman” nor “representative” to address her colleague.
By your logic, you owe @TulsiGabbard an apology. You failed to refer to her by the appropriate title. Shame on you, for your lack of basic respect and manners. pic.twitter.com/SUR9OZ4Kfg
The idea that Republicans, or more specifically President Donald Trump, only uses “disrespectful” nicknames when addressing women was also questioned.
Matt Walsh, from the conservative Daily Wire, pointed out that Trump has all kinds of nicknames for male lawmakers, many of them far from flattering.
Trump literally calls Biden “Sleepy Joe.” He called Rubio “Little Marco” to his face during the 2016 debates. He never uses professional titles for anyone. Not everything is sexism.
AOC has a habit of stirring up Twitter controversy. She nearly caused the platform to implode after arguing that a recent crime spike in New York City was caused by people needing to pay their rent and buy food for their children.
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