Great Final Jeopardy question

I very very very seldom come into "The Sink". But the Jeopardy tag drew me in. Excellent conversation re women's rights. Even as an old man I am still learning.

Wasn't he known for publishing an anti-slavery newspaper?  The Liberator, I think is what it was called.  

Very true......my wife has a Master's, while I only have two BAs.  She enjoys bringing it up from time to time. 

Bingo!  Garrison was an abolitionist of that era who also supported women's rights.  He encountered opposition from men who otherwise would have supported the anti-slavery cause except that they objected to the possibility of inclusion of women't rights.

Candy

He was quite a force in the burgeoning newspaper industry. He was keenly aware of the influence newspapers would have on public opinion and sentiment. He was extremely talented and a highly successful entrepreneur.

I came across an interesting anecdote. Because his editorials were controversial, and he wanted to save time, he developed the habit of not even writing them down, but instead, going into the print shop and typesetting them himself. He remarked later that his editorials were the whole purpose of his newspaper publishing business. 

You're right, Candy, in that a lot of men (and women) opposed slavery but didn't want women's rights and feared that abolition of the former would lead to an increase in the latter. That's why it took 55 years to get from the end of slavery to women's suffrage.

I graduated HS 1965.  Pre-med wasn't in the 'mainstream' of discussions of next steps, at least among my crowd.  Largely girls aimed for teaching or nursing.  Sort of a 'sign of the times' thing, I'd guess.  My parents expected my two brothers to be doctors, which they did become, but minimal interest re the future for my sister and me.  I guess they thought we'd get married, husbands would take over the payments, lol. 

I think my inspiration came from watching the early medical dramas on TV, e.g. Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, etc.  Now I can't watch any of them.  Doctors don't talk like that!  Right, jstewa22?

Candy

TV doctor shows seem to have segued from Mr. Invincible Cures the World (Kildare, Casey, et al) to Look at These Goofy/Curmedgeonly Doctors (ER, Chicago Something, House, Brit comedy about some balmy doc who operates in a small seaside town, etc.).

The societal perception of doctors has changed a bit. Now, they're not viewed as infallible or superhuman, but when you and I were growing up...they kind of were. And I think you'll agree, that the "bedside manner" function--comforting and reassuring the patient, and such--used to be considered the province of nurses, while the doc was expected to be businesslike and gruff. Now, an empathetic and compassionate doctor is the ideal. And that is, in conjunction with the stereotypes, more likely to be the case if the doctor is female.

I don't really know if caring for people is a female characteristic or our culture has just made it so. In many other countries, female doctors have been a mainstream thing for decades. Interestingly, one such nation has been Russia. It might have been a consequence of social equality mandates, or of a simple shortage of doctors during and after WWII, or even...doctors' lower position on the social ladder than in other societies.*

*Consider how in the US, doctors are at the top of the social ladder, while teachers are at the bottom; those perceptions are completely reversed in Russia.