Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!tekecs!waltt From: waltt@tekecs.UUCP (Walt Tucker) Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Re: Lakoff Message-ID: <1779@tekecs.UUCP> Date: Wed, 3-Aug-83 19:23:40 EDT Article-I.D.: tekecs.1779 Posted: Wed Aug 3 19:23:40 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 4-Aug-83 08:08:09 EDT References: tekecs.1777 Lines: 29 **mild flame** Do you seriously advocate doing away with the prefix denoting sex? Whether they are called "lady", "women", "gentleman", or "man" doctors, in some branches of the medical profession it is nice to know the sex of your doctor. As an example, some women get nervous going to a male gynecologist, but feel perfectly comfortable when the doctor is female. That is not to say that both are not competent, it is the nuroses of the patient that requires the prefix, not the profession. Another example is surgery. Irrational as it is, some patients prefer male surgeons when "going under the knife". I agree that in general and most other types of practitioning sex couldn't make a damn bit of difference, but in some areas it be- comes rather touchy (especially when treating special areas of the body). The medical profession is probably (one of) the largest areas in which customers (patients) request to know the sex of their contracting party (also because of the wide cross-section of society the constitutes patients). In these situations, the differentiation between male and female is going to occur, whether you like it or not. ------Flame off--- Walt Tucker (also Tektronix, about 100 feet from Ann) tektronix!tekecs!waltt