Being the doctor my parents wanted me to marry
I have a tshirt from the time when I was co-president of our chapter of the American Medical Womens Association (AMWA) that says "Be The Doctor Your Parents Wanted You To Marry." I dug it out from the bottom of my dresser this morning and thought about that line... After 6 years of education at an all-girls institution known as Marlborough, followed by another 4 years at an all-womens college fondly referred to as Swellesley, I call myself a feminist. Though I must say that my parents never raised me to be otherwise and they actually never raised me to "marry a doctor." I was always encouraged to have larger-than-life dreams and supported to go far away from home in search of the best education possible.
But I was a bit shocked when I came here for medical school, not because there were suddenly males in my class, but because all my professors were men! Don't you know there are studies showing that women learn better from other women? Literally, I can think of only two women professors during my entire first-year. One was old and didn't know how to work a computer... I distinctly remember her waving the mouse, which had become disconnected from the computer, and her asking "Why isn't this working? Does anyone know how to work this?" The second female professor was clearly lesbian and she was mean. She'd roll her eyes at stupid questions and threaten us when we wanted to leave lab early because it was so unorganized and unhelpful.
Where are all my women role models?!? I had taken them for granted until they were gone. Why is that such a big deal, one might ask? Because women are still discriminated against, because even though we are better at pretending that we have established some modicum of equality, we still live in a "man's world." Though today, there are more women in medical school than men, if you look at the demographics of practicing physicians, there ratio of men: women is more like 3:1. That's not accounted for by the incredibly long process that is called "medical education." It's because women must bear children and take time off from their careers, while men don't need to do a damn thing. It's because women are discouraged from having children during residency because it will fuck up everyone else's schedule. It's because women have a hard time finding fulfilling positions that allow them to be part-time.
In fact, while we're demanding equality, I like Margaret Cho's approach of women being entitled to more rights than men because hey, the day that a baby can pop out of a man's penis, is the day men and women deserve equal rights.
Enough ranting... Here's a good article for your enjoyment.
But I was a bit shocked when I came here for medical school, not because there were suddenly males in my class, but because all my professors were men! Don't you know there are studies showing that women learn better from other women? Literally, I can think of only two women professors during my entire first-year. One was old and didn't know how to work a computer... I distinctly remember her waving the mouse, which had become disconnected from the computer, and her asking "Why isn't this working? Does anyone know how to work this?" The second female professor was clearly lesbian and she was mean. She'd roll her eyes at stupid questions and threaten us when we wanted to leave lab early because it was so unorganized and unhelpful.
Where are all my women role models?!? I had taken them for granted until they were gone. Why is that such a big deal, one might ask? Because women are still discriminated against, because even though we are better at pretending that we have established some modicum of equality, we still live in a "man's world." Though today, there are more women in medical school than men, if you look at the demographics of practicing physicians, there ratio of men: women is more like 3:1. That's not accounted for by the incredibly long process that is called "medical education." It's because women must bear children and take time off from their careers, while men don't need to do a damn thing. It's because women are discouraged from having children during residency because it will fuck up everyone else's schedule. It's because women have a hard time finding fulfilling positions that allow them to be part-time.
In fact, while we're demanding equality, I like Margaret Cho's approach of women being entitled to more rights than men because hey, the day that a baby can pop out of a man's penis, is the day men and women deserve equal rights.
Enough ranting... Here's a good article for your enjoyment.
posted by Vivian | 11:10 AM
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