Guilty!

It's not often that you have a chance to realise just how deeply gender stereotyping is ingrained. I was referred to a new doctor and this morning, when I arrived for my appointment, I checked the Tenant Board to make sure I was off to the correct floor. I was amazed (shocked!) to see the doctor's first name was "Alice". I hadn't for a moment considered that the doctor would be a female - and I was extremely happy that I had found out before I saw her - especially as no-one could ever accuse me of having a poker face! This is not to say that I was at all concerned about having a female doctor - it was my preference but as my first choices (recommendations from mates in the medical area) were unavailable, I had made an appointment with one of their "associates" - and with the neutral term of "Doctor" had, without giving it another moment's thought, assumed it would be a male doctor. What did I say ... ingrained!