Misogyny in the Medical Industry
By Cheryl Hohl
Washington Post article by Taylor Telford: “A doctor said the gender pay gap is fair because women in medicine ‘don’t work as hard.’ He apologized.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2018/09/02/texas-doctor-says-gender-pay-gap-is-fair-because-women-dont-work-hard/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.fadfb95e1d06
Fox News article by Edmund DeMarche: “Texas doctor apologizes after saying women in the field don’t ‘work as hard’ as men” http://www.foxnews.com/health/2018/09/04/texas-doctor-apologizes-after-saying-women-in-field-dont-work-as-hard-as-men.html
The two articles above discuss the same event but include different details about the story. When asked about the gender wage gap in the medical industry, Texas doctor Gary Tigges made this statement, which was published in the Dallas Medical Journal:
Understandably, the response largely consisted of outrage, some at the doctor and some at the journal for publishing it. Although Tigges did apologize for his answer, there is still underlying misogyny in not only his thinking but also that of many of his colleagues.
Telford’s Washington Post article provides a relatively comprehensive analysis of the situation, highlighting responses from both male and female doctors, multiple statistics that prove and explain the wage gap, and Tigges’ apology. In order to acknowledge both sides of the debate, Telford features tweets from people in the medical community that disagree with Tigges but also gives legitimate reasons for the wage gap other than pure sexism. He brings up many of the issues female doctors face that affect their work life in addition to dealing with sexism on a regular basis. The Washington Post article also succeeds in maintaining a fair and impartial attitude towards Dr. Tigges, despite disagreeing with his statement, by mentioning his apology and reasoning.
DeMarche’s Fox News article, on the other hand, is much less thorough and mostly focuses on Tigges’ apology. While DeMarche does not explicitly defend Tigges, he establishes himself as somewhat of an apologist for the doctor’s misogynistic comments. Six paragraphs out of the total nine are focused on the doctor’s apology, even reiterating multiple times in the short article that Tigges was unaware his comments would be published. To be fair, the title of the Fox article is about the apology so it follows that that should be the focal point, but it certainly falls short in comparison with Telford’s detailed analysis.
Overall, the Washington Post article is a beneficial use of media because it cites lots of outside sources, showcases multiple viewpoints on the issue, and explains things in detail. The Fox News article shows limited sides of the issue and is too brief to fully tell the story. Obtaining information from multiple sources is an effective way to evaluate the veritability of each in order to learn the full truth of the situation.