Names: double and single

["Andy Gough, x4-2906, pager 420-2284, CH2-59" <@hermes.intel.com:AGOUGH@AZ.intel.com>]

>From:	stev0@sti.com (Steve Berlin)
>Subject: Names without frontiers
>
>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"

Well, I can think of one male rock star that is often referred to by his
first name only:  Jimi.

-andy