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Subject:
From:
Cathy Bargar <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 2 Nov 1999 11:23:17 -0500
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"Are their any predominently male professions that have these issues?  Is it
just because this is a predomintely female profession and as women we have
so many roles and so little time, that we
don't want to see that this is important to society and advancement of the
profession."

I *do* think that it's partly because we're mostly a female profession, but
I *don't* think it's because we have so many roles & so little time. (Which
of course is true, but I don't think it's the reason.)

I think that these issues of role and accreditation and who can do what,
etc. exist in any profession as it emerges into the rank of "profession".
But I also think that we as women are more sensitive to these issues. In my
experience of life, it seems to me that men are more likely to set up a
definition, to say "these are the rules", and have the attitude that if you
don't like it either change the rules or do something else. If you have no
piece of paper, no initials after the name, just forget it; you're either in
or you're out. Women seem to be more inclusive, and more aware of the
gradations and shades, and less bound to hard definitions than men. And they
seem to care more that consensus be reached *without* "hurting anybody's
feelings". And women are better able to "multi-task" than men as well, so I
think that we're much better able to deal with the nuances and complexities
than men, by and large.

(Let's see, can I get in any more broad generalities here, other than to say
"women rock!"?...) I don't *WANT* to have a definition of my profession
that's just like the male models we mostly have - I am a woman, working with
and for other women, and I don't want to mimic men! But I do want
credibility - so it's a tightrope sometimes.

Cathy Bargar RN IBCLC Ithaca NY (who's not all that good at living with the
rules, but tries to pretend she's doing so, which gives more freedom to
actually accomplish something)

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