goodqueenalys:

appalachiananarchist:

dxmedstudent:

*raises hand*

Our attending walked into the room wearing her white coat, name badge on, and introduced herself as the doctor. The patient continued to refer to her as nurse the entire time we were there, and when we left, asked when the “real doctor” was coming. This same attending had to stop wearing her (very conservative, knee-length) dresses/skirts because male patients would comment on her legs or try to touch them. An ophthalmologist friend was telling me that she won’t do slit-lamp exams with the door shut anymore because male patients have (more than once) groped her.

Racism is still a big problem, too. I have another friend who, just yesterday, was told by a patient something along the lines of “it’s a good thing you aren’t a doctor (he is) because your people are coming here and taking up all the doctor jobs.” And that was definitely one of the milder things I’ve heard patients say about race. They’re usually screaming slurs.

At every. single. law firm. I ever worked for I got mistaken for or called a paralegal at least once a week. And it was always by white male attorneys every. single. time. They would continue to refer to me, and other female associates, as paralegals even after being corrected. 

The point is not that being a paralegal is somehow an occupation less worthy of respect. Being a paralegal is actually an incredibly demanding job that you have to get a specific degree for. In many cases, and at most firms, paralegals do just as much work as their supervising attorneys short of going to court. 

The point is that white males always need to feel like they have more power than you do and that you are lesser than they are.