THE DISSECTION OF SEXISM - A STORY THAT’S EVERYWHERE

“Madam, I won't be able to place you with that team. Maybe with some other team, please.” The office staff was pleading with the newly joined female surgeon. 

She appears to be a fresher and is willing to join the team that manages patients of her interest. A surgical team is generally divided into teams or units which work on a specific schedule each day through the week on a rotation basis. I understand that this fellow young surgeon, like me, is interested in a particular area of interest. 

I did not involve in their little conversation because I had to carry on with some other work, but their discussion sparked something inside me. Maybe, I was just eager to know why she was being denied and forced to work with another team. 

A couple of days later, I happened to meet her in person while at lunch, and both of us were on our own. Leaving aside my social anxiety, I decided to sit with her and have a little chat about the event that happened the other day. Initially, she was not very welcoming of my presence. But when I introduced myself as her colleague, her face beamed with joy. After getting to know each other, she loosened a bit and started talking nonstop.

"Ah, finally. I am meeting someone like me here. I was so frustrated working with the all-men's team, who did not even acknowledge me. I am glad I found you." To be honest, I too finally met someone so relatable in the department after a long time. Though more women have started pursuing surgical careers now, we haven't reached a ratio yet to work in balance. 

Though many might dismiss the fact that surgical fields are biased against women, they are unaware that not most of us have it easy. The prejudice is there in subtle forms, if not apparent. Having shared some of our everyday problems, I finally mustered the courage to tell her I had witnessed the conversation the other day. I asked her why she was not allowed to join the other team, which had a vacancy to be filled.

"Oh, you know that already? I was told that the chief of the team has asked not to appoint female juniors under him. He isn't comfortable working with us." This made my blood boil. I stopped eating and stared at her with my mouth agape. 

"What does that even mean? Not comfortable working with us? And you let it go?" I know I wasn't directing my anger towards the right person. But she was all I got for now. We left for the office after lunch to inquire about it because, as someone working in the department, I felt I had all the right to know the reason.

"The chief doesn't want female juniors because he is scared he might be framed falsely if he happened to be harsh with them. He feels he might not have the same liberty as working with a male under him. And if he tries to be strict, women might take it out on him in rather distorted ways. That is why." This was what we got in reply from the office team, which left me fuming inside. 

"Bad." She hissed.

"Doctor, please don't feel bad. You are with a good team."

"No, not me. It's bad that men who can perform wonders with their scalpel can't do the same with their brains." We left with that because we knew there was no use in these little pep talks.

That day, I was left flustered with so many questions. Why should any man be worried about being falsely framed unless he intends to be? Women all over the world are living every day while facing abuse in many forms. I am in no way dismissing abuse against men. But the comparison is too high to even look at it the other way around. Yes, rarely do we come across instances where laws against abuse were misused by a few. But does it warrant this unnecessary discrimination which is already a battle we are fighting to win?

In that case, haven't women been facing abuse from men, from ogling to passing judgements to molesting to rape? Shouldn't women be worried about working under men in power, given that everyone has faced this at least once in their lifetime? But then, it all starts with education. Not the kind where you go to school or college, give exams and pass out because, these are men from the most educated background I am talking about. Here, by education, I mean adult and community education, where common sense and intellect come first.

Months later, after a few other female surgeons joined, this news spread like a forest fire and happened to reach the ears of the head of the department, a woman! She issued a written warning and wrote a paper exclusively on sexual discrimination in the workplace for surgeons. After that, a committee was formed for the rights of women surgeons working in the hospital. Despite no drastic changes in their mindsets, there was some noticeable progress. Slow and steady.

 

Hence proven, pen is mightier than a sword, a surgical knife in this case. It is time we consider educating our future generations, not just for the sake of securing a future, but also for being inclusive and impartial towards the society and community. The need for including sex education and community education at an young age should be validated.

The event is purely factual and based on multiple incidents merged into a single post. Any resemblance to real persons and places, living or dead, is purely intentional.

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This is a part of Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter