Dr. Alice Lee, a general practitioner

Equality. Yes, well… I’m doctor, so I suppose you could say that I have an interesting, rewarding and important job. However, I have experienced tremendous prejudice from male colleagues, and after all, while there are plenty of women doctors, most of the surgeons and top consultants are men. The argument’s always the same, in all spheres of activity, that women will leave the job to have babies. Of course not all women want to have babies, so this is tremendously unjust. Personally I did want children… I’ve got two… and I stopped work to have them. Children are always forgotten in the argument. I’ve always felt that it is a very narrow view of life to value a person purely in terms of job status. I believe we should remove the barriers against women at work, but I also do not see myself only as a working person, ‘Dr. Lee’. Being a mother is a very important social role, and we need to re-assess our view of motherhood and to regard it as equally valid as any job. It is absurd to think a woman is ‘more successful’ as a Prime Minister, than as a mother. Of course this is equally true for men. Couples who have swopped roles, where the mother has gone out to work, and the father has stayed at home, will tell you that both jobs are equally important; and even that being at home is more damaging, emotionally and physically.