Winner
Kathryne Hong, 16, from Durham, N.C., responded to a piece from the Well section headlined “A Brief History of Sexism in Medicine.” She wrote:
I used to hate apologies.
They often seemed hollow, excuses for avoiding accountability.
But, Mom, I owe you one.
I’ve always trusted medical professionals, so when you fell down the stairs a few months ago and sought help, I believed the doctors who repeatedly overlooked your distress. When simple tasks became monumental challenges, and when you apologized for the little things you couldn’t do anymore — like buckling your seatbelt — I grew frustrated. I couldn’t grasp why you felt compelled to say sorry for the pain that physicians claimed didn’t exist.
After reading the article, it finally crossed my mind that you face a systemic issue that has plagued women for generations. That your apologies are typical in a medical system where women apologize for things deemed atypical — “for sweating, for asking follow-up questions, for failing to detect their own cancers sooner.” That we, women of color, are viewed as “less worthy of care and compassion.” That even female genitalia in Latin is “pudenda”: “things to be ashamed of.”
And I am so ashamed to admit that I never attended a single one of your appointments nor offered a hug when you needed it most. But I promise you, starting today, I’ll become your second pair of eyes at your appointments, buckle all the seatbelts you need, and ensure you get the “trusting and respectful relationship with your health care provider” that “is every patient’s right.”
Mom, I’m sorry.
Runners-Up
In alphabetical order by the writer’s first name.
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