I’m over this dude & the mansplaining about how we shouldn’t get angry in the face of injustice, like sexism & racism at work. But he still has over 40,000 people listening to him, so here’s my take for #medtwitter.
Dr. Reid is afraid of anger. I’m not. Here’s why.
Dr. Reid is afraid of anger. I’m not. Here’s why.
https://twitter.com/c_diazepine/status/1042435660865568771
First off: the fact that women physicians are mistaken for nurses constantly is because of sexism. It’s a belief that doctors are more powerful than nurses, men are more powerful than women. This is a problem. We’re a team. We complement eachother. The hierarchy needs flattening.
What often happens is that a patient sees a health provider, interprets their [age] [gender presentation] [race] [national origin], calculates their expected level of societal power, then assigns them a role on the health care team. “I’m Dr. McNamara” becomes “My nurse is here.”
Nurses, techs, PAs, and everyone working in the ED are essential members of the health care team. I’m not angry that I get misread. I’m angry that I am *constantly* misread and demoted on the heirarchy. I’m angry that the heirachry still says women aren’t powerful enough to lead.
My anger is justified. Telling me not to be angry is maddening, because it denies the reality that I live in. It’s ok to be angry. What to do with that anger is the challenge.
Audre Lorde in Anger: “Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.”
“My response to racism is anger. I have lived with that anger, ignoring it, feeding upon it, learning to use it before it laid my visions to waste, for most of my life. Once I did it in silence, afraid of the weight. My fear of anger taught me nothing.“ -Audre Lorde
I don’t follow Dr. Reid’s pearls anymore. I embrace my anger, learn from it, and do my best to focus it for meaningful change. I’m always learning, always making mistakes and trying again.
My hope on this thread is not to be a bully - I think Dr. Reid has quite enough of a following and has plenty of chances to engage on this issue, which he has declined.
My hope is to encourage others to respond to their anger with more curiosity and less fear. /end
My hope is to encourage others to respond to their anger with more curiosity and less fear. /end
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