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HelpRe: Can you imagine these names on a grown woman?
in reply to a message by Janan
It's not that individuals would consciously judge them on their name, but a childish name would subconsciously bias people.
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Agreed. I'd never look at Pixie herself and think, "This woman is an idiot," but I would think her parents were quite likely dimwitted and uneducated and then I'd wonder about her background and then about how campaigning for someone with that name would reflect on me, etc, etc.
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Kind of like how Abraham Lincoln's parents were dimwitted and uneducated? His mother had to make an X on her wedding license because she couldn't write, not even her own name, (and couldn't read, either) and he never had a good relationship with his father because his father hated the fact that Lincoln rejected a life of physical labor and wanted to educate himself instead.
One of the founding ideals of the US is that a person does not have to be held back by the circumstances of his or her birth.
Obama's father was an abusive alcoholic bigamist and a neglectful father to Obama.
So yeah, I find the idea of holding the failings of a candidate's parents and/or the childhood background of the candidate against him or her to be invalid. This is what right-wingers are doing when they speak disparagingly of Obama's father and the fact that part of his childhood was spent in Indonesia. It's exactly what they're doing when they call him "Barry Soetero".
But anyway, if you weren't that serious, okay. I wasn't sure if you were or not, and that's why I asked.
One of the founding ideals of the US is that a person does not have to be held back by the circumstances of his or her birth.
Obama's father was an abusive alcoholic bigamist and a neglectful father to Obama.
So yeah, I find the idea of holding the failings of a candidate's parents and/or the childhood background of the candidate against him or her to be invalid. This is what right-wingers are doing when they speak disparagingly of Obama's father and the fact that part of his childhood was spent in Indonesia. It's exactly what they're doing when they call him "Barry Soetero".
But anyway, if you weren't that serious, okay. I wasn't sure if you were or not, and that's why I asked.
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Abraham Lincoln's parents belonged to a time when being uneducated was common. You can't compare them to people born in the 21st century.
I stay out of right-ring circles so I've never heard of these rude names or whatever about Obama. But I'll say this- his parents, however unfortunate they may be- had the foresight enough not to name him Unicorn or Gnome or Dragon. Do you think the same exact man would have been elected if his name had been Unicorn Obama? It wouldn't matter what his politics were. No one would have taken him seriously enough to put him in the Oval Office. He would have been lucky if they'd taken him seriously enough to hire him at local restaurants. Politics would have been damn near impossible.
So I'm not saying that a name is more important than politics/character of a person, but we can't act like a name isn't a very important part of the impression a person makes on others. And I feel a parent should highly consider their child's potential future and the way they want their child to be perceived/treated by those around them, especially strangers who haven't had the chance to get to know them personally. No parent should start their child out with a major stumbling block in their path and a name that's a fantasy creature is exactly that.
That's what this boils down to. That's all I'm saying here.
I stay out of right-ring circles so I've never heard of these rude names or whatever about Obama. But I'll say this- his parents, however unfortunate they may be- had the foresight enough not to name him Unicorn or Gnome or Dragon. Do you think the same exact man would have been elected if his name had been Unicorn Obama? It wouldn't matter what his politics were. No one would have taken him seriously enough to put him in the Oval Office. He would have been lucky if they'd taken him seriously enough to hire him at local restaurants. Politics would have been damn near impossible.
So I'm not saying that a name is more important than politics/character of a person, but we can't act like a name isn't a very important part of the impression a person makes on others. And I feel a parent should highly consider their child's potential future and the way they want their child to be perceived/treated by those around them, especially strangers who haven't had the chance to get to know them personally. No parent should start their child out with a major stumbling block in their path and a name that's a fantasy creature is exactly that.
That's what this boils down to. That's all I'm saying here.
This message was edited 12/20/2018, 7:56 AM
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What about...Phoenix Obama? Unique Obama?...Snowflake Obama? haha
Yep, I would have voted for Unicorn Obama or Pixie Obama (or even Snowflake Obama) over Mitt Romney.
Yep, I would have voted for Unicorn Obama or Pixie Obama (or even Snowflake Obama) over Mitt Romney.
This message was edited 12/21/2018, 2:04 AM
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My point was that he wouldn't have made it that far. Based on his name, he wouldn't have had a shot at the presidency because he would have been rejected at lower levels based on his name alone.
And I didn't say Obama versus Romney. I said between candidates of similar/equal beliefs and goals. So if you were voting for people in a primary to determine who would run in general elections, would you vote for Unicorn or Snowflake or Pixie if the other equally qualified and similar minded candidates were named Rebecca, Alex, and Antonio? I'd rather campaign and support Rebecca, Alex, and Antonio.
And I didn't say Obama versus Romney. I said between candidates of similar/equal beliefs and goals. So if you were voting for people in a primary to determine who would run in general elections, would you vote for Unicorn or Snowflake or Pixie if the other equally qualified and similar minded candidates were named Rebecca, Alex, and Antonio? I'd rather campaign and support Rebecca, Alex, and Antonio.
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I understood you, but I don't think that's a given. One example, a woman named Twitty got through a democratic primary in 2018; she lost the general election, but it was in Georgia, so that's not really surprising.
If there is no difference between two candidates in any way that matters, I probably wouldn't bother to vote, although if there is truly nothing distinctive about a candidate, I don't think their name is their biggest problem.
If someone's awesome on policy issues, I'm going to view them positively, and name recognition would be a plus in politics; a Pixie is more likely to be remembered than a Rebecca.
Again, I'm not arguing that some people aren't going to be biased against Pixie as a name, just that the bias isn't any more reasonable than bias against Hussein would be.
If there is no difference between two candidates in any way that matters, I probably wouldn't bother to vote, although if there is truly nothing distinctive about a candidate, I don't think their name is their biggest problem.
If someone's awesome on policy issues, I'm going to view them positively, and name recognition would be a plus in politics; a Pixie is more likely to be remembered than a Rebecca.
Again, I'm not arguing that some people aren't going to be biased against Pixie as a name, just that the bias isn't any more reasonable than bias against Hussein would be.
This message was edited 12/21/2018, 5:25 PM
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