I'm a sexist.

I think that one of the greatest travesties humanity has ever created is the male obstetrician/gynecologist. I'm sorry, but whose brilliant idea was it to let a man muck around with something that he knows absolutely nothing about? Would you want a blind optometrist? Would you go to a hairstylist who had a bad hairstyle? If you're anything like me, of course you wouldn't. You need a person who is specially trained in something that they have knowledge of and can understand. A blind optometrist would never understand blurry vision - they have no vision! So, how can a man claim to be an expert on the female reproductive system? I don't care how long he studied in school - he doesn't know what's really going on in there.

I should qualify this by saying that I really hate *all* male doctors. They creep me out. They're patronizing, condescending, they have horrid "bedside manner," they don't know how to interact with patients, they never answer your questions, they make you feel like an idiot just for noticing what's going on with your body, they never make eye contact with you, and they always wear smelly cologne! If I could make it through the rest of my life without seeing another male doctor, you bet your ass I would do it in a heartbeat.

This rant is brought to you courtesy of the fact that my oh-so-competent-and-delightful obstetrician (female, naturally) is LEAVING. She is moving away and now all that are left are the nasty male doctors. She was the only female obstetrician in a sixty-mile radius, and now she's gone. I can't see any of the lovely (also female) midwives at their practice because I have a history of "high-risk" pregnancy, and now I'm carrying multiples. They flat out told me that I have to see a doctor. Ugh. So, I'm panicked. No man with his smelly breath and hairy fingers is going to deliver *my* babies, that's for damn sure. I'll just have to go hunting for another female doctor to see. ::steels self for unpleasant reality::

So, yeah. I'm a big fat sexist. I won't see male doctors. I have yet to meet one who actually cares about his patients, rather than his paycheck. If I find such a one, maybe I'll recant. Until then, they can all just go... well, you know. I am just disgusted by the fact that our society still sees certain jobs as "men's work" and certain jobs as "women's work." In some circumstances, I may be able to understand the distinctions. Men, for example, have bigger muscles and frames, and can therefore lift and carry heavy things. I, on the other hand, am short and scrawny, and could no more do a job requiring manual labor than I could fly. So, more men do manual labor. I'll buy that. And sure, women tend to be more caring and empathetic (I realize I'm generalizing here. I know many women who don't fit this, and many men who do, but whatever. I'm a sexist, remember?), and are better at helping others. Is that because we're biologically built to care and nurture? Or because society has trained us to think of everyone else's needs before our own? I don't know the answers to any of these questions. I just get irritated by the fact that our society has convenient categories to stick people in, and they keep getting stuck there, and career paths and SALARIES are determined by gender, not by innate ability. ::grumbles:: If more women were allowed to follow their inclination, rather than what was "recommended" as the best choice, I probably wouldn't have any trouble finding myself a female obstetrician.

Notice how all this ranting about equality is brought about by my selfish desire to get what I want?