Names without frontiers

[stev0@sti.com (Steve Berlin)]

Y'know, everyone around here (including yours truly) refers to Kate
as, well, Kate.  Now, I can sorta see why folks don't refer to her
as Bush - a casual listener might think we were refering to some
Bozo who - oh, let's just call him that President thing.

But when you think about it, when we refer to female artists in
general, what do we call them?  Kate, Laurie, Yoko, etc.  First names.
When we refer to male artists?  Gabriel, Clapton, Gilmour, etc.
Last names.  We refer to children and those of lesser stature by
first names, adults and those of higher social stature by last name
(usually preceeded by "Mr.", "Dr.", or even "Ms." (although the
Powers That Be frown on this last one)).

The reason for name usage is obvious - If I just said "David", you would
ask "WHICH David?" (Gilmour?  Bowie?  Allen?).  But refering to
"Lydia", in the context of talking about alternative music and such,
pretty much boils it down to Lydia Lunch.

Even so, (to me anyway) this seems rather - (oh, go ahead and say it!) -
sexist.  But maybe we don't need more Lydias - maybe we just need less
Davids.  Or even better - less Davids and more Lydias!  Yeah, that's it!


- Stev0, who will kill you if you call him "Sensitive"

"I am not a number!  I am a free woman!"
       - Agent 99

-- 
Steve Berlin (Stev0)   |  "Up yours, Ugly!"
Stev0@sti.com          |                   -Kate Bush