Stereotypes that Help: Women as Field Doctors

Female Field Doctor

Pictured above is an iron wrought painting framed in dark wood with a dark green border. Within the picture, a young woman is tending to the wounds of an older man, and sowing an injury of his. The injured man is sitting silently, and watching carefully as the young healers hands tend to him. Although blank space is used here, it is used sparingly and is broken up by small white flowers.

Here traits that are typically associated with femininity (i.e. tenderness and nurturing) are used to encourage women to become field doctors or nurses. Although the use of these traits to encourage women may seem unhelpful or demeaning to women, the encouragement for them to not only join public life, but have an important part to play in it was very necessary, and revolutionary (for the time).