Tag: HumansFirst

OneWomansOpinion, SheWrites

[Un]informed consent

Word to the wise: “I wish somebody would’ve told me/warned me/prepared me” is a shitty feeling. If we wanted women to succeed we would stop selling them fantasies. It’s not informed consent if you don’t know what to expect. We teach girls that they “become women” at menstruation, that they’re destined for motherhood (conveniently omitting sex as the path to said motherhood) and condition us our whole lives to become wives (“no one will marry you if… “) but somehow they still fail to tell us the truth. The whole truth. Fantasies are for children and continuing to perpetuate them robs us of our agency.

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OneWomansOpinion, SheWrites

Casual[Cruel]ty

I don’t like writing about medicine if I can help it (ya’ll have asked). But as I start preparing to rejoin the clinical fracas (death by a 1000 cuts) I would like to reflect on power: I think we have a profound misunderstanding of the amount of power we wield over one another as colleagues. The damage we do. I’m going to tell you a tale of casual cruelty that stuck with me longer than it had any right to. But it illustrates my point perfectly *minor details changed for obvious reasons*

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FriendshipLoveLetters, SheWrites

Friendship love letter VI: Post Mortem


I take friendship seriously and it is a hill I’m willing to die on. Platonic intimacy is what keeps our human cylinders firing and we’ve collectively allowed it to become a secondary function of relationships. Your life partner will love you and do things to and for you that a friend cannot (eg. change your last name or bind your bloodlines) but what they cannot do is fulfill and round out your life the way friends can. Friendship is the prize. Always.

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OneWomansOpinion, SheWrites

A Tough Pill to Swallow

As a community service medical officer in one of the most interesting health care systems on the planet, I’ve seen how easy it is to point fingers when we discuss its failures. For once let’s point the finger in all directions to find something resembling the truth: yes we’ve been set up but we’re also failing each other. (grab some refreshments, it’s a long one)

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OneWomansOpinion, SheWrites

Unlearning I: Selective History

I enjoyed history so much growing up. The stories of fearsome warriors, evil acts and human triumphs. I learned how separation, misinformation and propaganda (aka psychological warfare) were the tools of choice for evil regimes on the other side of the world. I never dreamed that these tools were still at work. Here and now.

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