Woman slams Qantas for calling her 'Miss' instead of 'Doctor'
A female academic has responded to public backlash after she slammed Qantas for calling her ‘Miss’ instead of ‘Doctor’, saying she was trying to highlight ‘everyday sexism’.
“This was not about my ego,” Dr Siobhan O’Dwyer tweeted on Sunday.
“It was about highlighting one of a thousand instances of sexism that women encounter every day.
“It’s not about the title, it’s about the fact that this wouldn’t have happened if I was a man.”
Dr O’Dwyer was boarding a Qantas flight when a flight attendant looked at her boarding pass which said ‘Dr O’Dwyer’ and instead addressed her as ‘Miss O’Dwyer’.
“Hey @Qantas, my name is Dr O’Dwyer. My ticket says Dr O’Dwyer,” she originally tweeted on Friday August 31.
“Do not look at my ticket, look at me, look back at my ticket, decide it’s a typo, and call me Miss O’Dwyer.
“I did not spend 8 years at university to be called Miss.”
Hey @Qantas, my name is Dr O’Dwyer. My ticket says Dr O’Dwyer. Do not look at my ticket, look at me, look back at my ticket, decide it’s a typo, and call me Miss O’Dwyer. I did not spend 8 years at university to be called Miss.
— Dr Siobhan O'Dwyer (@Siobhan_ODwyer) August 31, 2018
Dr O’Dwyer is a Senior Lecturer in Ageing and Family Care at the University of Exeter in the UK with a PhD, Bachelor degree and graduate certificate.
Her original post received over 8,000 likes and has set off public discussion about casual sexism, with passionate opinions supporting and attacking the academic.
However, she has received a barrage of hate mail from outraged members of the public. According to a recent post, she has asked Twitter to filter out threatening messages.
“Sincere apologies if you’ve contacted me for a legitimate reason & not had a response,” she tweeted on Thursday.
“In an effort to filter out the vitriol, Twitter has inadvertently filtered out some of the kindness & genuine enquiries. Bear with.”
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When asked about the specific incident, Qantas commented on their crew’s behaviour at large.
“We are extremely proud of our cabin crew who respectfully serve our customers day in and day out and play a vital safety role,” A Qantas spokesperson told Yahoo7 on Thursday.
“Our crew treat all passengers with the utmost respect regardless of age, gender and occupation.”
