[On the way to 4-year-old son's doctor appointment]
MiM: We're going to the doctor's! Do you want to be a doctor when you grow up?
Son: I can't.
MiM: Why do you say that?
Son: (Pause)...are there daddy doctors?
MiM: Yup. There are daddy doctors.
Son: OK, (with glee) I want to be a doctor!
I wish there were a way to "like" blog posts.
ReplyDeleteGreat story. And reminds us of the importance of balance and role models and making sure kids understand the full range of what they can do.
ReplyDeleteMy version:
3 year old daughter walks past family room as we are watching an NCAA men's basketball tournament game, does a double take, comes back and says, "Mom, Dad, did you know that BOYS can play basketball?"
My daughter also thinks only women can be doctors.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. When I was a kid, I once told a pediatrician that she couldn't be a doctor "because she was a woman". (/hang head in shame) I'm glad that the tide is turning.
ReplyDelete:)
ReplyDeleteThe fact that half of all medical school students are women just thrills me beyond belief. As recently as the mid-70s we girls were being steered into nursing or anesthesia work; never encouraged to become a doctor in our own right.
ReplyDeleteMy son had the same misconception. Hard to blame him; all the doctors he knows are women.
ReplyDelete--R3, IM
Love it! Shared that one!
ReplyDeleteIt's the subtle social stereotypes that are the worst.
Well-done Mum!
My almost four year old daughter has only experienced female pediatricians. We recently moved to a new area and her doctor is a male. At a recent doctor's appointment, the female nurse left the room, the male doctor walked in and with a very puzzled look on her face, she asked him, "Where did the doctor go?"
ReplyDelete