Can a PhD (Or a doctorate or an MD) choose to use a gendered title instead of Dr? For example, suppose an AFAB PhD comes out as a trans man. Is he allowed to use Mister to affirm his gender? Or is he stuck in the gender neutral Doctor zone forever? Does he have to get knighted by the British monarchy in order to get a masculine title?
I had a philosophy prof who said the title depends on the setting. If he were speaking at a conference, it’s Dr. If he was teaching at a school, it’s Professor.
If you’re in a setting where those titles aren’t relevant, don’t use them.
Most people with Ph.D don’t use the Dr title out of a formal setting.
Between People thinking that you’re a physicianand asking about their health, and people thinking you’re pedantic. Better staying discrete.
“Doctor” is a title you become entitled to use by virtue of holding a PhD - you have the option to use it, but nothing compels you to do so if you don’t want to.
Note that the reverse isn’t true - representing yourself as holding a doctorate when you don’t can be a fairly serious crime - if you did for the purposes of getting money from some, then it’s probably some kind of fraud
While misrepresenting yourself or your credentials can be fraud, the title of PhD/Doctor (outside of MD) is not regulated, at least not in the US. It’s almost like an endorsement from the university that you passed their tests.
But that’s not very regulated either, and there are countless certifying boards (Boards of Regents, typically).
Falsely claiming to have a PhD in Neuroscience from Harvard, or an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Knox College, would be fraud. But just saying that you have a PhD without specifying anything more specific is not.
And it comes up regularly - an easy example is the author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus.
As a PhD holder who has worked in healthcare, I really couldn’t use the title doctor because the chance for confusion with a medical practitioner is too high. That’s fine by me, I only use the title on rare occasions such as when speaking publicly in my area of experience. Please just call me Meyotch.
Meanwhile in certain countries people with an M.B.B.S. and no doctorate get to use the title of “doctor” as a matter of convention.
Funny how physicians have basically co-opted the title even when they technically do not possess the degree it refers to. And even funnier is that the word doctor means teacher in Latin so it would make much more sense that those with Ph.D.s, who are qualified to teach at the highest levels, should get to use the title over physicians most of whom do not teach anything at all unless they are medical school professors.
