“But I Want a Female Doctor”

The large, glossy 2002 wall calendar that arrived in the LILITH office in January, courtesy of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, contains” 12 distinctive images of the healing arts from a variety of periods, places, and peoples.” Each month features a reproduction of a painting by such artists as Norman Rockwell and Thomas Eakin, all showing doctors in various heroic postures. And all of the doctors are men. The women, by contrast, are never shown as healers, but are always either helpless or sick, and needing to be rescued. In one picture, which depicts an operating theatre in a medical school, only the cadaver is a woman.

“Best Wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year,” read the attached card, which was signed by Dr. Herbert Pardes, the president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian Hospital.