Appearing in a bikini, refusing contractually agreed part-time work, humiliating questions: BRIGITTE reader Conny*, 50, about her experiences with power structures in medicine.
As part of the BRIGITTE #wasmachtmacht campaign, we encouraged our readers to tell us about their experiences with power. Numerous voices have reached us – from the areas of politics, studies, work, love and family. This story is one of them.
I have experienced abuse of power on many levels at work. It started when I applied to train as a physiotherapist in the 1990s to bridge the time until I could study medicine. As part of the application process, it was “normal” to “parade” in a bikini in front of the headmaster, a senior doctor. Two-piece suits, swimsuits not allowed. All the girls in a row. Feels like mass processing. We were touched and examined by him without any real greeting. Among other things, he examined whether our spines are straight.
With me he became loud and unfriendly and complained that my bikini had too much material and that he couldn’t see anything. He stood behind me and frantically fumbled with my top, trying to pull it up without directly addressing me, as if I were an object. He complained that it couldn’t be done that way, that it would take too long. An employee then signaled to me that I had to undress from the top, but quickly. In this situation I froze inside and couldn’t defend myself. I wanted to sink in or scream out loud, “Hands off!” Didn’t work. So I did as I was told. It was degrading, like a meat inspection. As a doctor, you can examine people empathetically and respectfully in a protected environment, but that was not the case here. It was the most humiliating experience of my life.
Back outside I shook with disgust at the head doctor. I knew his behavior wasn’t okay. However, he had so much power that no one really questioned his actions. It was considered “normal” and “not so bad”, even if that wasn’t common in other schools. Despite being accepted, I decided against this school; I didn’t want to be there.
But this shameful and humiliating experience also had something positive. She contributed to me having zero tolerance for assault as an adult woman. If a touch doesn’t feel good, I open my mouth, say “Stop” and set clear boundaries.
When I was later accepted to study medicine, I went this route. But even there I encountered abuse of power by senior doctors. This time in a different way. In the 2000s I was an intern doctor, i.e. still in further training after completing my studies. After a family break, I took a 50 percent position in a doctor’s office. After about a week, a colleague was permanently absent, which was probably already foreseeable. I was asked to speak to the bosses, who put the knife on my chest. Your message: Either you work full time starting next week (and sign the corresponding contract change), or that’s it. I was still on probation. There was a message between the lines: As a young mother, you don’t have a chance anywhere else, you should be happy if you can work here. Since I had no alternative, I agreed, but with a feeling of powerlessness. Much later it emerged that the bosses were generally against part-time work for female doctors.
At work I experienced what it was like to be dependent on your boss. It wasn’t an easy time. I had no leeway in terms of working hours, worked a lot of unpaid overtime and went beyond my strengths. I heard comments like “As a mother, you only think about your child at work and don’t get anything done.” When asked, I had to explain why I didn’t have a child until after my specialist training and received astonished reactions when I said it with conviction : “I would do it the same way again, become a mother young.”
Of course, I could have easily done without all of these experiences. But they also made me alert to power structures. Later I reoriented myself without specialist training. I paid attention to more flexible scheduling, the possibility of working part-time and respectful treatment of working mothers by the management level. I would do that again in exactly the same way.
*The name is known to the editors
That’s what Prof. Dr. says Fatma Celik
Prof. Dr. Fatma Çelik is a qualified psychologist, researcher on psychology and (sexual) violence across the lifespan and lecturer at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences.
© Thomas Neitsch / Private
Prof. Dr. Fatma Çelik is a psychologist and, among other things, researches violence across the lifespan. It helps us to classify the experiences – to make power structures visible. Here she addresses a foreword to the readers.
Where do power structures come into play here?
Prof. Dr. Fatma Çelik: The person affected describes the recording situation as a very humiliating and helpless moment. Power structures may come into play here in the context of an actual or assumed difference in expertise and also age differences. Especially when we come into contact with specialist staff, such as doctors, we assign them, of course rightly, expertise in their field. However, this expertise in one subject does not necessarily have to be present in all areas, for example in interpersonal contact. In the example mentioned, the applicants and the head physician were not on equal terms – this is where power structures come into play. The group situation and the resulting group pressure “the others have joined in” make it difficult to behave non-conformistly and to resist.
In the second part of the report, structural disadvantages in the context of parenthood, to which mothers in particular are more subject, are presented. Balancing work and parenthood still poses greater barriers for mothers. A key point, as the case clearly shows, is that the women themselves are blamed for this difficulty instead of focusing on structural disadvantages. This then creates threat scenarios such as “termination” or implicit blame regarding “early motherhood” as named by the person concerned. Power structures take effect here through the professional dependency relationship and hierarchical power imbalances in hierarchically organized structures, but also through implicit expectations.
How can the person affected deal with the experience?
The person affected writes that these experiences have made her more alert to power structures. This experiential knowledge is what ultimately initiates change processes. To do this, it must be examined how systematically such disadvantageous structures prevent people with care obligations from higher positions in hierarchically organized structures. Individual stories like the ones you share with us, dear reader, ultimately make it more tangible for other readers what disadvantage means in this specific context. In the best case scenario, these reports reach employers who look differently at their employees with children.
What would have to change in our society so that something like this no longer happens?
Here I would like to let those affected speak for themselves:
“I paid attention to more flexible scheduling, the possibility of working part-time and respectful treatment of working mothers on the part of the management.” I would apply the paragraph about “mothers” to everyone, even if this group is particularly affected by disadvantage Expand people with care obligations.
As far as the first part of the description is concerned: Prospective doctors have to acquire a lot of specialist knowledge in a short period of time during their studies and have a lot of responsibility. Psychological knowledge is partly already integrated into the curricula and is an important component. When communicating with patients, it can help to open up space for critical questions in order to convey more security.