The "White Woman's Burden" in the "White Man's Grave" by Dea Birkett

This story is about the British’s nurses’ responsibility to better the physical health of white men on the Coast of West Africa. This task becomes a burden because the British officials of the CNA (Colonial Nursing Association) began to monitor the daily lives of the nurses and placed strict codes of conducts upon them; the nurses could only consult with one another.

Ok...........We clearly see from this story that women (all over the world might we add) are not presenting a united front. We're not saying that this is a bad thing all the time, but when the ideas presented are as proposterous as they are in this story one must shake her head and question how deeply embedded is patriarchy in women. Sometimes men don't even need to oppress women, they have other women doing their dirty work for them now.

For instance, the CNA was run by women, therefore, they helped reinforce the stereotypes of what constituted a lady when setting the requirements for what constituted a nurse. It is ridiculous that being a lady was considered more important when being hired for a nursing position than how much skill and experience a woman had.

I know that when I go to a doctor, I am not really concerned if she is feminine or not; my only thought is if she can make me feel better. I can kind of understand where the CNA was coming from about nurses being nurturing because that does help in the healing process, but I would pick skill and education in medicine over feminine traits any day...looking cute and being nice will not help conduct surgery but knowing the procedures and what supplies to use will.

We believe that race, class, and social economic status, among other social factors are aspects that cause divisions in various women’s movements. Patriarchy is aware of these aspects and it uses them to perpetuate the oppression of women.

Where is the sisterhood?