the obgyn sterotype

[snowinter]

Hi everyone,
I wrote this post much better a few days ago; it didn't go through and I didn't have time to re-write.

I want to talk about female obgyn residents: the french manicure and cute hair styles.

SJH -- you wrote
"i'm your typical energetic, insense gyn gal with lots of fabulous shoes & accessories." in a previous post. (and i am not picking on you-- just using this opportunity for a discussion!)

It seems ironic to me in a field that advocates women's health & women's rights -- that women are so ready to be the sterotypical woman; most all obygn residents ive met put a lot of personal emphasis on cute shoes and accessories, hair and victoria secret purses. There seems to be more emphasis on making sure your hair looks great than on looking a bit ruffled the next day cuz you stayed up late reading 5 more pages. So then, we are not known b/c we are brilliant surgeons -- but b/c we are nice to look at. In fact, if you don't fit into this mentality , it is even a bit hard to get along.I mean when I look around at obgyn residents around the country -- pictures on websites etc, I never see the "nerd" with the thick glasses and the broken out skin..who looks like a sterotypical medical student bookworm.

This barbie girl mentality really turned me off obgyn my first week. But, obgyn as a field was so great that I overcame it. I then started thinking: it is great to take care of yourself and be composed-- instead of the sloppy overweight doctors you see in other fields (i'm sure there aer some in obgyn too)

but, just wondering if anyone else has seen this trend toward french manicures and a certain style to be an obgyn doctor. and what your thoughts are on all this? Don't get me wrong, I love cute shoes; I can play the part when I need to. I enjoy dressing up; but my shoes or hair do not define me as a person.

any thoughts?
snow

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[DrBuzzLightYear]

everyone needs to feel pretty a lack of grooming is a sign of depression.

 

[sjh]

i'm not sure why this is... but it is a very realistic stereotype as far as i can tell. i think it is the somewhat intrinsic "sorority" nature of a specialty that focuses only on women.. & often attracts residents that are surgeon-style intense & energetic, as i wrote before, but also more feminine. women tend to subconciously compete with physical appearance culturally & maybe this is why you end up with a cohort of gyn divas (?) however this is all speculation on my part & i'm not sure i know the answer to this one entirely. i have my doggie-dog days, too, of no showering, bralessness, & glasses... but i have my paris hilton meets grey's anatomy days, too. i just try to make sure i balance the two having at least 1male/yr seems to help keep things a little balanced, too. therefore, even in a specialty that i think will one day be even more female dominated, there will always be a place for men, particularly in the more surgical subspecialties such as gynonc.

 

[daisyduke]

Where do you go to school?! Wow, that doesn't describe the Ob's around here at all! Actually, what you describe sounds a lot more like our Derm clinic....

 

[DrBuzzLightYear]

but i have my paris hilton meets grey's anatomy days, too.

hmmm.... has someone been making amateur porn in the residents lounge?

 

[braxtonhicks]

I am particulary intrigued with the french manicure part of the stereotype. The OR at the university hospital where I do my rotations does not allow people to wear nail polish, let alone have artificial nails (not even clear polish). How is it possible to have a french manicure if one is in a surgical-based specialty that mandates scrubbing in at the drop of a hat for C-sections, etc? And how can someone possibly have anything but short nails when they are doing things like checking to see how dilated someone is?

 

[sjh]

nope no porn here... at least for the purposes of the board!

i am at MCV in virginia & we actually have a 50/50 diva:normal person ratio in the ob/gyn dept with a few divas that are so super, including attgs, that they count as like 1.5 or something...



i am being a bit cheeky in my posts, i guess.

actually no one has french manicures in the OR, but the likely have a designer handbag that matches (but isnt "matchy-matchy") to their clinic shoes, a good colorist, & pink danskos... ... or am i serious... we may never know....

 

[snowinter]

SJH:

that's an interesting analysis thanks for ur input. I agree on the male's in obgyn. I think normal society has a mixutre of m:f and if we get too many f or too many m, things will be messed up b/c it is no longer normal society.

to those of you who were suprsied by the stereotypes I wrote, it seems that there are a few hospitals here and there across teh country that may (to use ur words , SJH) have a greater ratio of normal ppl: Divas.

take care, snow

i'm not sure why this is... but it is a very realistic stereotype as far as i can tell. i think it is the somewhat intrinsic "sorority" nature of a specialty that focuses only on women.. & often attracts residents that are surgeon-style intense & energetic, as i wrote before, but also more feminine. women tend to subconciously compete with physical appearance culturally & maybe this is why you end up with a cohort of gyn divas (?) however this is all speculation on my part & i'm not sure i know the answer to this one entirely. i have my doggie-dog days, too, of no showering, bralessness, & glasses... but i have my paris hilton meets grey's anatomy days, too. i just try to make sure i balance the two having at least 1male/yr seems to help keep things a little balanced, too. therefore, even in a specialty that i think will one day be even more female dominated, there will always be a place for men, particularly in the more surgical subspecialties such as gynonc.

 

[Leukocyte]

I never heard of an ob/gyn stereotype describing female residents as "barbie" types. I have never seen "barbies" in ob/gyn (and I rotated at 5 different hosptials). The females whom I have met/worked with fit the more common Ob/Gyn stereotype of "bitchy tomboys in PMS".

Snowwinter, Please do tell which school you go to, 'cause I would really love to go there (as a single male).

 

[kas23]

I'm flabbergasted by this thread. No offense to anyone, but vanity is certainly not a forte of any ob/gyn females I have seen. Quite the opposite in fact. The women I have seen are very strong-willed, tomboy-types (for lack of a better, less offense term) that really could care less about how they looked at 3am delivering a baby or in the OR. I honestly have no idea how this thread came to be.

If you are looking for women who love to accessorize or get pedicures, look no further than peds or derm.

Really, do ob women have time to doll themselves up?

 

[vietcongs]

As a PGY-1 OB/GYN, I have no idea where the barbie doll stereotype is coming from. We have 16 residents, 12 females, no barbie dolls. There are a couple girls that throw on some lipstick about once a week. Shoot, we don't even have time to pull off "the clean look" everyday. I don't know where ppl find time to accessorize and do their hair and nails. Nobody from our program is much of a diva. We're mostly normal people who strive to brush our teeth and comb our hair in the morning.

 

[Quijotemd]

Snowwinter, Please do tell which school you go to, 'cause I would really love to go there (as a single male). [/QUOTE]

Leukocyte, try UT Houston's program. There you will find the types that the post is referring to. These are residents who were some of the country's top applicants but they are fairly homogenous--similar hair, shoes, socks, and mannerisms. Oh, and the way they speak: everything's "awesome".

 

[grayce79]

OK, so I will completely fit into to the barbie stereotype, but what's wrong with that? Most women have a feminine side and there is nothing wrong with embracing that! Yes, I love to shop, go to the spa, etc. But I also love to deliver babies and help women with their health problems. You can't assume that just because someone has a french manicure that they aren't studying enough! Everyone has their own ways of relaxing and having fun. No one can study every hour of the day.
Barbie rules!

 

[snowinter]

OK, so I will completely fit into to the barbie stereotype, but what's wrong with that? Most women have a feminine side and there is nothing wrong with embracing that! Yes, I love to shop, go to the spa, etc. But I also love to deliver babies and help women with their health problems. You can't assume that just because someone has a french manicure that they aren't studying enough! Everyone has their own ways of relaxing and having fun. No one can study every hour of the day.
Barbie rules!

Hi Grayce79,
you are absolutley right. There is nothing wrong with embracing your feminine side. and no, I can't assume just b/c ppl don't have messed up hair they are not studying enough. In fact, some of the smartest people I know are somehow able to pull off fantastic composure (accessories & all) while keeping ahead of the game in everything. I think what bothers me is when the applicant pool becomes very homogenous almost clone-like. Why should barbie be the epitomy of my feminine side when she doesn't even exist?
I worry about the reputation obgyn has: 1. looks > talent 2. new post-med school sorority
anyway, it has been really interesting reading everyone's perspectives.
It seems there are three different types of ppl in obgyn residencies across the countries (from your posts)
1. normal ppl
2. Divas
3. "tomboy"
snow!

 

[lmh14]

First of all, this thread is ridiculous Second of all, it looks like it worked, because I have to bite

I am really surprised to hear what you guys have to say, because this "barbie doll" stereotype is completely foreign to me. You've got me really curious to get started on interviews now so I can see what other places are like! At my program, all of the females are super nice and down to earth. I would describe all of them as laid back. Nobody wears a ton of make-up, and I can't remember the last time I saw a manicure. In fact, their main accessory is fun socks, and they buy each other super cute socks when one of them has a rough week or something. I would describe the residents (female and male both, actually) as a mix of "normal people" and "tomboy." No Barbies here! But I guess that's what makes programs different, which is probably why different programs have such different reputations. Hopefully when we are interviewing, we will get enough of a sense of a place to know if we will "fit."

 

[snowinter]

First of all, this thread is ridiculous Second of all, it looks like it worked, because I have to bite

I am really surprised to hear what you guys have to say, because this "barbie doll" stereotype is completely foreign to me.

Imh14,

I wasn't posting something just to bait people to reply.. really just to have discussion about stereotypes of what an obgyn resident is like. I see it suprises the SOCKS off some ppl. I've never seen any tom-boy residents as you describe. But it is interesting to note that there seems to be 3 distinct groups from ppl's replies (see my previous thread).

Also, just b/c residents fit a certain stereotype doesn't mean they are mean or malicious. I was not implying that either. 98% of the residents at my school are super nice ppl. the attendings are great too!

snow

 

[elvede]

At my program, all of the females are super nice and down to earth. I would describe all of them as laid back. ......in fact, their main accessory is fun socks, and they buy each other super cute socks when one of them has a rough week or something.

First of all, I totally agree with the sock comment!!!

At first I thought it was kind of weird that OB/GYN residents all seemed to own really funky/colorful socks but after months of only wearing scrubs I realize how important it is to accessorize your wardrobe in any small way to keep things interesting.

Second, Imh14 - if you dont mind telling more, which Cleveland program have you rotated through and would you recommend the program to others?

Thanks!

 

[lmh14]

Hi Elvede,
How funny - I thought the sock thing was only at my school. It's so much fun!!! About Cleveland programs, I did my core clerkship at University Hospitals (Case Western U.). I wrote up a pretty long description about it under the "OB/Gyn 2006" thread. If you can't find it or want more info, please let me know and I'll answer any questions. But, in short, I loved it and I would be extremely happy to stay. Everyone's super nice and the program's great. The only problem - I kind of want to get out of Cleveland - back to the east coast or down south maybe. Somewhere warmer
What's your story?
L

 

[TY06]

the obgyn female residents here are hot! woo woo

 

[fermina]

well i would also add that another stereotype of ob-gyn's exist -- one of bitchiness. while i don't think this is true, i do think it's a rather pervasive stereotype...

 

[strathra]

God, I hope I fall into the diva ob/gyn stereotype! How fabulous would I be?!? Well, since I'm a queer guy, I'm a diva no matter what I do!