What's in a Name?
Two things I learned today: One Massachusetts candidate for governor is a woman; the other is black. I know I don't live in Massachusetts, and I probably don't have any business paying attention to their governors. But it still seems like the sort of thing you should know. I think there are a couple things going on here:
First, Kerry Healey and Deval Patrick both have very boring last names, and very bizarre first names. I don't think a disengaged person (or me, yesterday) could tell you which one was the woman, and which one was black, merely by looking at the names.
How many other people have this problem? How many people in Massachusetts have this problem? I suppose the main way Massachusetts voters learn about their politicians is the way I do: From reading newspapers and magazines. I considered myself well-informed. I knew two people, Kerry Healey and Deval Patrick, were running for governor, but I didn't pick up on their sex and race. Do people in Massachusetts have better political reporting?
I suppose it helps that they have political ads, with the candidates forced to appear in their own ads. But surely not everybody sees those ads. I never see any political ads where I live, and I live where there are (supposedly) lots of ads. It's not important to know these sex and race things, not in a policy sense, but it would still be jarring to wake up on November 8 and discover that your governor was not a traditional old white male.
Moreover, I suppose there's nothing anybody can do about it. Inasmuch as it would inform people, it would probably hurt each candidate's chances for election if voters found out they were minorities. It is not exactly in their interest to get the word out, and besides -- it would look stupid running and ad campaign to say hey; I'm a woman. I suppose Ms. Healey could help people like me by changing her name to Angelina or something like that, but again, it would probably hurt her chances if people found out. Maybe this is just a problem I have. If so, I'm not sure how to get over it.
First, Kerry Healey and Deval Patrick both have very boring last names, and very bizarre first names. I don't think a disengaged person (or me, yesterday) could tell you which one was the woman, and which one was black, merely by looking at the names.
How many other people have this problem? How many people in Massachusetts have this problem? I suppose the main way Massachusetts voters learn about their politicians is the way I do: From reading newspapers and magazines. I considered myself well-informed. I knew two people, Kerry Healey and Deval Patrick, were running for governor, but I didn't pick up on their sex and race. Do people in Massachusetts have better political reporting?
I suppose it helps that they have political ads, with the candidates forced to appear in their own ads. But surely not everybody sees those ads. I never see any political ads where I live, and I live where there are (supposedly) lots of ads. It's not important to know these sex and race things, not in a policy sense, but it would still be jarring to wake up on November 8 and discover that your governor was not a traditional old white male.
Moreover, I suppose there's nothing anybody can do about it. Inasmuch as it would inform people, it would probably hurt each candidate's chances for election if voters found out they were minorities. It is not exactly in their interest to get the word out, and besides -- it would look stupid running and ad campaign to say hey; I'm a woman. I suppose Ms. Healey could help people like me by changing her name to Angelina or something like that, but again, it would probably hurt her chances if people found out. Maybe this is just a problem I have. If so, I'm not sure how to get over it.
posted by apk01004 at 4:26 PM
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