The world becomes a truly weird and definitely less fun place when we start judging people for doing absolutely normal things. Recently there was a study published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery that said the most ridiculous thing you have probably ever heard. They claimed that they did a study amongst young vascular surgeons that concluded that they post a lot of inappropriate content on social media. And what they meant by inappropriate wasn’t photos or videos of the surgeries, it was what they were wearing. Their idea of inappropriate and unprofessional centered around wearing bikinis to the beach, risky Halloween costumes on Halloween and photos in underwear.
So let’s get this straight, we’re not talking about a gossip column, we’re talking about a medical publication called the Journal of Vascular Surgery. And what happened was some guys decided to create fake accounts to then search and judge social media posts of women in the medical profession. Does anything sound off to you here?
Because we’re pretty sure that if a woman wants to post photos of herself in a bikini during her vacation or day off at the beach, she absolutely can. And the fact that she’s a med student or a medical professional does not come into it. It must be shocking to the authors to find out that people are capable of being perfectly competent and professional at work and still know how to have fun in their free time.
Everybody in the medical profession will tell you that you have to work really hard to become a doctor, especially a surgeon. And even once you succeed at getting your dream job you still have to work really hard day in and day out. These are smart, talented, hardworking people that help their patients every day. Why would anyone even care what they do in their free time? They need to blow off steam, they need to relax and chill with friends so that once they’re back at work they can be on their best game.
The medical community clapped right back and did a bit of a flash mob on social media where they all posted photos of themselves in their work clothes and in a bikini under a #medbikini.
Many have mentioned that the views expressed in that “study” are sexist, dated and absolutely ridiculous. You think we’d be past the point of shaming women for their bodies and what they wear to the beach. But clearly, we’re not.
The photos that the medical community shared were inspirational if anything they showed that you can look hella professional in scrubs and hella hot in your free time and still be a professional. The medical journey apologized for the poorly thought out and badly executed study that did nothing but shame women. Let’s hope that this type of stuff doesn’t happen again.
And to the women in medicine, we’d just like to say we have nothing but the biggest respect for you. You’re doing some truly good things in this world and we’re eternally grateful for that. Let’s all learn to respect all people equally and remember that everyone has the right to do whatever they want in their free time as long as it’s not hurting anyone.