Ocasio-Cortez Furious With Trump For Calling Her AOC; Says It’s ‘Sexist’ And He Should Call Her ‘Congresswoman’

Well, it seems Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is once again desperate to get her name out in the headlines again — and apparently her strategy is successful because hey, here I am, writing about her — calling President Trump “sexist” for daring to call her by her initials, “AOC” during last night’s presidential debate.
AOC is commonly known by her initials, but according to her, only “the people” are allowed to call her that. Colleagues in Congress and the presidency are to call her “congresswoman” or something official.
In a tweet following the debate, the Democratic representative implied that President Trump and other Republicans are sexist if they do not refer to her by her official government title.
“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,” she tweeted.
“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,” she continued.
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.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 23, 2020
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
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) October 23, 2020
The smattering of responses AOC received for her tweet were mixed, with conservatives noting that there’s a difference between being called a nickname and then being referred to by your initials. They also pointed out that Trump uses more personal names, for example, referring to Joe Biden as simply, “Joe.”
And, as predictable as ever, progressives also came out to defend her honor or something like that.
“AOC is not a nickname, they’re your initials. JFK is also not a nickname. The FBI, again, is not a nickname. You can maybe say that Trump should’ve still used your official title, but Obama was also referenced sans title, and you don’t see him whining about it on Twitter…” Lauren Chen posted on Twitter.
“As a fellow three-namer. Its just easier to say. You’re not special. Calm down,” Chad Felix Greene said.
“He called Joe Biden ‘Joe.’ Get over yourself,” tweeted conservative podcaster Michael Knowles.
“Studies have found that people are more than twice as likely to call male professionals by their last name, compared with female professionals, who are often called by their first name. This bias is so strong that people do this even when they refer to fictional men and women,” writer Simon Hedlin posted.
“Besides being a sign of respect, why does it matter that women also be called by their last name? Because research shows that it has an impact on professional outcomes. For example, people are more likely to think that someone who is called by their last name deserves an award,” he went on.
“This man noticed too. It’s a defense mechanism. He’s intimidated by women who are smarter than he is, aka women. You’re way smarter than he is, so he has to use insulting modifiers to comfort himself,” another user tweeted.
Is this really something to get outraged about? No. It isn’t.
Is this just AOC looking for attention? Probably. She does this from time to time, right around the moment folks start to forget she exists. It’s also likely an attempt to draw in some sympathy with a persecution complex before the election.
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