We need more women in medicine, especially black women. I’ve had many instances of racial prejudices in my life but one I remember distinctly was during a recent doctor’s visit. I had some concerns with a lump (thank God nothing serious), so I went to my campus clinic here in Waco to check it out. The nurse practitioner walked in with her hair swinging side to side and a too-wide smile for eight in the morning. She asked me the standard questions on why I was here; I tried my best to answer. As I was talking for what seemed like maybe 20 minutes, I started to realize something wrong with our transaction. I was misunderstanding her enthusiastic nod and sympathetic smile as understanding when in reality she was never really listening to me at all.
The entire visit the nurse never even glanced at my lump or referred to it at all. Instead, she spent the rest of the time interrogating me about my sexual health and referring me to STD clinics and planned parenthood. Ummm ok. I never mentioned to her that I was concerned that it was a sexual health problem. I felt ignored and insulted by intuitions about me, but I wasn’t surprised. As a black woman we have many stereotypes, most of them usually contrasted against white femininity. I could tell that the nurse was only seeing me as a sexual deviant; a common stereotype placed on black women.
Why do our voices tend to be ignored?
I know many who have gone to the doctor’s office and have felt misunderstood and worse been misdiagnosed. Black women are more likely to live with obesity, high blood pressure, mental illnesses, and diabetes then any other demographic. For instance, let’s look back at Serena Williams’ story. This is a woman that has access to the BEST medical care; Yet, she could have died giving birth to her daughter Olympia. As someone prone to clotting, she informed the nurse after giving birth that she thinks she might have another clot. The nurse disregarded her concerns and pinned her worries to the pain medication. She insisted and sure enough, they found several blood clots in her lungs.
What if she listened to the nurse and went back to bed? The outcome would have been a lot more serious. The nurse assumed that she was overestimating her pain. When really all she had to do was listen to her patient. This makes me think of the women who are middle to low class and don’t have access to a state of an art medical team. Where does that leave them?
As a black woman pursuing medicine this is an extreme concern for me. Lives are constantly disregarded, because of the color of our skin. The intersectionality of being black and a woman harms us in different ways; the view that black people have tougher skin yet at the same time women are also seen as hysterical. When it comes to our lives who can we trust to help us? We are automatically met with preconceived notions about our bodies that physicians and nurses bypass protocols and procedures. God forbid, but my lump could have been more serious. All this lady had to do was listen to me.