It’s fairly usual in today’s environment to have items questioned regarding their appropriateness or relevancy. I think it’s beneficial that there are more and more conversations on topics that may not have received much attention in the past.
Though we’re still far from ideal, we’ve made progress in leveling the playing field for everyone in terms of equality when it comes to opportunities and how we treat one other. The idea of gender roles is one that is always changing.However, gender norms were far more set in stone not so long ago. Just as men wouldn’t have dared to do some things for fear of being ridiculed, women would simply not be allowed to do some things.
As I mentioned, it seems that our society is making great efforts to address that issue every year, but much more has to be done. People are aware these days, at the very least, and if you needed any evidence of that, all you had to do was look at a seemingly innocuous photo that recently went viral and received a ton of comments.
Now tell me, how many of you thought that all nurses were women and all doctors were males when you were younger? I have no qualms about admitting that as a child, I always imagined a male doctor. In the meantime, I would expect to be met by a woman if I went to visit the nurse.
With a few notable exceptions, it was the case once upon a time. Naturally, the medical field has changed with the times, and when you visit a doctor or nurse today, you have a roughly equal chance of receiving care from a man or a woman.
Therefore, it became a highly contentious topic when one X account shared a photo of two young children dressed as a doctor and a nurse, respectively. The picture shows a young boy in a green uniform with the words “Doctor In Training” printed on his back holding hands with a little girl in a pink costume that reads “Nurse In Training.”
It’s innocent fun, isn’t it? The owner of the account that uploaded the picture likely believed that, but it turned out that many others did not. Much to say.
Actually, the majority of the comments underneath the picture criticized the photograph as a damaging example of stereotyping, citing the colors of each child’s uniform in addition to the lettering the kids were wearing on their backs.
Promoting the notion that women are more likely to become nurses and males are more likely to become doctors may be viewed as improper by certain individuals, as the roles of doctors and nurses are currently occupied by people of both sexes.
The image in question is, in my opinion, merely humorous, and people shouldn’t always extrapolate before going crazy on the internet. People are free to voice their ideas, though, and since the image above sparked such a strong outcry, I suppose it is not appropriate of me to minimize their responses.
How do you feel about the particular image? Is it improper in any manner, form, or aspect? Tell us in the comments section.
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