A play in 3 acts’; Weighing the Risks vs. Benefits of Research
Act I. Can women intubate? Two South Korean authors asked whether physician gender has a significant impact on intubation success, and found that “Female physicians are not inferior to male physicians in performing emergency endotracheal intubation.” Act II. It’s not about American women – South Korea is really sexist. The article had a swift and … Continue reading
Girl Mayor
Matthew (age 3): “It has to be the mayor.” Me: “The mayor?” Sam (age 5): “Yeah, you know, the guy in charge of everyone in the city.” Me: “You know, women can be mayors too.” Sam: “Yeah, but they’re usually guys.” I keep having some iteration of this conversation with my young sons – women … Continue reading
Why Some Women Love the Ban Bossy Campaign
Sheryl Sandberg’s campaign to “Ban Bossy” when talking about girls, so that they’re less likely to be discouraged from being leaders, has generated some serious backlash. Some have objected to the campaign by schooling us on the differences between being bossy and being a leader. Indeed, these words are not synonymous in the dictionary. Some, especially … Continue reading
To Ban Bossy Or Not?
Better that 500 bossy girls go free, than that one leader girl be discouraged. Or something like that. Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook who urged us to Lean In, is now teaming up with others urging us not to call girls “bossy” in her “Ban Bossy” Campaign. To a certain extent, the sentiment makes … Continue reading
The State Fair
“I got run over by a golf cart at the State Fair,” my five-year-old cheerfully says to the Emergency Department technician who is checking us in. A utility cart knocked him down – he is a five-year-old running along the grass by the path, and some asshole wasn’t looking as he turned into my kid … Continue reading
The Women’s Table
Oh, no. I’m at the loser table, I thought walking into the large room for our summer intern lunch. I sat at my assigned table with the other female bioengineering summer interns and the one female manager, while looking around enviously as the male interns I worked with sat elsewhere with the men. Every woman who works in a male dominated field wants to be sitting at the table with the highest level leadership, and we know, just as everybody … Continue reading
Girl Driver
“Mom, doctors are men and nurses are women,” one of my four-year-olds said to me cuddling up in my lap as the pediatric nurse walked in. He wasn’t trying to be inflammatory. At this age, he had been learning social norms, and his voice betrayed the pride he felt at finally figuring out this “rule.” … Continue reading
