Apparently women can't be doctors...

couldn't imagine mistaking a doctor for a nurse really, different clothing and often a different manner.

I don't think I would go for increased arrogance to counteract this. It is something I hate intensely but generally appearing very "serious" in clothing/facial expression might do it. Sometimes you have to learn to smile less for one thing IME, ridiculous as it sounds.

It is true that the older you get, the more serious you appear to people and I find the more likely they are to assume you hold a higher position. Do you look young for your age OP? I always did and I remember when I worked as a solicitor and later as a lecturer being told more often than I would have liked to hear it, I looked far too young to be either. I was not young but tbh I did always look very young for my age.

If that is what lies behind it, take my word for it - that passes

That's interesting dudesMummy about looking older than the nurses, how do nurses careers progress as they age?

I used to get this all the time on the wards. In A&E once the ambulance team handed over the resus patient to the male medical student I was supervising rather than to me! TBH I found quite amusing as I was so tired at the time and the medical student looked absolutely terrified.

I think it does get a bit better as you get older, springbok (also you care less about it, I find!). I have been a doctor for the best part of twenty-five years and did used to get this, but now it doesn't really happen any more. I think its something to do with looking older than most of the nurses now, oh dear?! I do get a bit annoyed in my private life when people call me Mrs DH even when they know me, as I am not a Mrs and I also have quite strong feelings about not taking your husband's name when you marry.

I think you are looking for sexism where none exists Handdived! Just because certain words may be used by certain people about a particular sex does not make them automatically sexist.

I work closely with 2 GPs who are both extremely caring and supportive to patients and staff, caring and supportive are words some people would associate more with women but these GPs are both male. Regardless of their sex using those words about them implies nothing in terms of sexism.

Or does your sexism argument apply only to "negative" words. I maintain DP and DS whine an awful lot more than DD or myself. Don't think any of us simper though (at least not that I'm aware of)

The point I was making referred to a young woman as she was the only example I had and it seemed relevant but I maintain I would feel the same about either sex behaving inappropriately and object to the suggestion that my opinion is sexist

My mum is a retired hospital doctor and she used to get this too, and as well as people asking for an English doctor, as opposed to a foreigner.

There are some lovely folk out there.

Ahh right - sorry GetOrf

Feeling a bit ranty today so apologies!

aaaaaaaaarghh at xposting trend

I think she was aiming that at her colleagues with the Liverpool/hello kitty accessories!!

It doesn't help when one of our biggest customers are allowed to request only male staff go and work on their projects. Their wives (not girlfriends) can go and live with them but they have to stay on a compound all the time. I worked with someone who was qualified to do a job and could even speak the language of this country but was immediately rejected as she's female. If absolutely necessary a woman can go out as a consultant but doesn't get any of the perks like tax free salary that the men get.

I think GetOrf was exhorting her Hello Kitty-toting colleagues to grow up in a rhetorical fashion, not you, HandDived.

I think the association of pink with little girls in the first place is the sexist bit. Objecting to that and disliking the way pink functions nowadays as a "marker" of girlishness is not sexist at all, quite the opposite. Hence the "pink stinks" campaign & similar.

No no no scallops - I wasn't saying grow up to you! Was directed at the Liverpool FC and Hello Kitty colleagues!

I see your point about pink for girls being viewed as inherently sexist (however I think it is the excessive marketing of pink for girls is to blame), however I think that someone intelligent like a doctor should not wear something which would make her look like a fluffy girl. She is a professional.

God, massive xpost. I always do that. I type too slowly

An excess of pink accessories/decor often goes hand in hand with a liking for sugary, infantilised tweeness to which I simply cannot relate on style grounds. But more importantly, I am sure that it is linked to the cynical marketing of pink as "for girls", and I find that in itself deeply annoying. It does women no favours, quite the opposite.

Anyway, re the OP, I am sorry & cross that you have to put up with this in 2011. It would piss me off no end. I'm sure tiredness and the stress of your work make it even harder to rise above it all ... it would be better if it wasn't happening in the first place.

I don't know what the solution is. If you become more imperious then yes, it might help, but then you'll get the "uppity woman" criticism/reaction, no doubt. Maybe that is better, though? I don't know. Difficult to win against entrenched sexism.

"Grow up" - was that directed at me GetOrf? A bit uncalled for! I was only trying to put the point across that the colour pink comes with its own sexist roots. I am not saying that inappropriate accessories at work are unprofessional - just that the other colour stethoscopes are available and I don't think people would have as great a problem with a blue stethoscope as a pink one.

LilBB most of my working life has been in military aerospace, I know what you mean.

You end up having a tough hide - you have to be complete emotionless and the absolute top of your game at all times in order to be taken seriously. I was an engineer (later moved into the commercial side) and the looks of astonishment I used to get. It doesn't help that the main military aeroplane manufacturers are (by and large) bastions of old fashioned male values. It is starting to change, though (slowly)

I loved it though. Love planes

Sorry for hijack OP.

Trills, you don't!

Whiny and simpering are words far more directed at women than men - so are sexist.

The same outrage would not be present if the doctor in question wore a blue stethoscope. It is because of the connortations of pink (as Trillian outlined) being associated with little girls. And that is sexist.

I think anything personal like that at work should be completely verboten.

I have a colleague who has a load of Liverpool FC stuff on his desk, it makes him look like a complete div. Ditto a colleague with a Hello Kitty notebook. She takes that into meetings and I Curl My Lip.

Grow up.

I don't understand how people can confuse doctors and nurses. I can understand how people confuse nurses, midwives, physios, health assistants etc as their uniforms are very similar. I was in hospital recently on a Gynae ward and saw 4 doctors. 3 female and 1 male. 2 had their own clothes on and 2 wearing scrubs. None where dressed anything like the nurses uniform.

I feel your pain a little. I'm nowhere near as qualified as a doctor but work in the military aerospace industry which is very male dominated. The women get treated differently from the men. It's often assumed the one woman in the meeting will take minutes, or that the men are higher up, or the women will sort out the tea. It doesn't help that most of our executives and board are men and women are assumed to work there for the benefits for working mothers. I don't know if it's typical of the industry or just any male dominated area. I like to mutter comments about how it will all change when I'm CEO.

I understand your frustration, op. I was off sick last week and told my faculty leader I had managed to get a gp appt. Her immediate response was to ask what HIS diagnosis was. Why she assumed my gp was a man really annoyed me.

Funnily enough my mum wears scrubs at work (she is nurse) but some patients assume she is a doctor. Maybe that's to do with age and experience though?

I would think it is an extension of that whole 'pink is for girls' depressing marketing crap.

It would remind me of playboy logo'd shit and Jordan's pink bentley.

Hand dived, I mentioned pink only because I was taking about that specific case because she wound me up no end when I watched the programme - if it was a young man doing the same with blue or the colour of his football team I would feel exactly the same way.

Ultimately we all have to face prejudices of one sort or another in our lives but it is up to us if we choose to set ourselves up to face some we don't have to. If she was my daughter I would be advising her it is not wise to joke about yourself being a "Barbie" and therefore insisting on pink accessories/instruments and complaining you are not taken seriously.

And BTW whining and simpering are not sexist as some men do both of those things too and are every bit as irritating when they do. Are you suggesting this behaviour should not be not commented on because it comes from a woman? That is sexist IMO

Stethoscopes should be grey. They are a tool not a fashion accessory. You are a doctor, you are not 12, you don't need an "I heart Take That" sticker on your stethoscope either.

But why do you feel like that GetOrf?

I would find it a bit depressing that a female doctor would want pink stethoscpes tbh.