I always wondered what the answer was but never got round to looking it up. I thought there's no way it can be such a famous sentence and have the answer be that fucking stupid.
Maybe in the 60s or sometime when gender norms were more strictly enforced it would have been good?
It's not about enforced gender norms but expectations, associations. And they still persist. The song "Draw me a person" by Kate Couriel discusses this quite good.
So you thought it must be his mom but then said nah that can’t be it that’s too stupid?
If so, that’s a good sign that the world has progressed. I was thinking recently how 99% of the time you hear the word “progress” it’s satiric and about knocking down your grandma’s house to build a data center or whatever. But actual progress can happen.
"A Ferengi gets stuck in a turbolift, but the Enterprise's engineering team cannot reach it from their position. Miraculously the turbolift starts to move, and when the lift opens up, the engineering team ask: "How did you get it going again?"
::: spoiler Answer
The Ferengi was also an engineer
:::
Or "A Vulcan diplomat is given the nicest quarters on the Starbase, but complains that they are too small."
::: spoiler Answer
The Vulcan lied.
:::
Or "Turkana IV colonists steal a weapons shipment, in preparation for their civil war but never use the fancy weapons. How come?"
::: spoiler Answer
Are you kidding? A Turkana colonist wouldn't piss on fire to save his own mother.
:::
Or "A Klingon, a Vulcan, and a Romulan walk into a Ferengi bar but none of them order a drink, how come?"
::: spoiler Answer
The Vulcan doesn't drink, and neither the Klingon nor the Romulan had any Latinum
:::
There are two things to be aware of to understand this comic:
Surgeons are usually discouraged from operate on their family members due to conflicts of interest (eg. they may make judgement calls not in the patient's best interest due to emotional conflicts).
There is a popular riddle that goes something like this: a father and son get into a car accident. The father dies and the son is in critical condition. The son is sent to the hospital and goes in for an operation. The surgeon walks in, sees the patient and goes " I can't operate on him, he is my son!" How is this possible? The intended solution is that the surgeon is the boy's mother and it's supposed to show our unconscious bias. (Yes I know the other solution is a father in a same sex relationship but that's not relevant here).
So this comic plays on the readers assumptions by introducing a familiar premise (the riddle with the surgeon) but the subverts expectations in a humurous way (she's adopting her patients to get out of work).
15 Comments
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca · 57 pts · 1d
This is the best type of doctor fathering 100s of patients stories, much happier than the rest.
Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 1d
This mistake is hilarious given the original "riddle" this comic is riffing on.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 1d
I always wondered what the answer was but never got round to looking it up. I thought there's no way it can be such a famous sentence and have the answer be that fucking stupid.
Maybe in the 60s or sometime when gender norms were more strictly enforced it would have been good?
lugal@sopuli.xyz · 10 pts · 1d
It's not about enforced gender norms but expectations, associations. And they still persist. The song "Draw me a person" by Kate Couriel discusses this quite good.
A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip · 5 pts · 1d
Pretty much, yes.
stickyprimer@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 22h
So you thought it must be his mom but then said nah that can’t be it that’s too stupid?
If so, that’s a good sign that the world has progressed. I was thinking recently how 99% of the time you hear the word “progress” it’s satiric and about knocking down your grandma’s house to build a data center or whatever. But actual progress can happen.
tetris11@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 1d
I guess the modern equivalent would be:
"A Ferengi gets stuck in a turbolift, but the Enterprise's engineering team cannot reach it from their position. Miraculously the turbolift starts to move, and when the lift opens up, the engineering team ask: "How did you get it going again?" ::: spoiler Answer The Ferengi was also an engineer :::
Or "A Vulcan diplomat is given the nicest quarters on the Starbase, but complains that they are too small." ::: spoiler Answer The Vulcan lied. :::
Or "Turkana IV colonists steal a weapons shipment, in preparation for their civil war but never use the fancy weapons. How come?" ::: spoiler Answer Are you kidding? A Turkana colonist wouldn't piss on fire to save his own mother. :::
Or "A Klingon, a Vulcan, and a Romulan walk into a Ferengi bar but none of them order a drink, how come?" ::: spoiler Answer The Vulcan doesn't drink, and neither the Klingon nor the Romulan had any Latinum :::
BlueOysterCultist@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 21h
I like reading it when it says “this is impossible since the dad died!” And my first thought was gay parents instead of the mom being a surgeon lol
stickyprimer@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 22h
I still remember my mom riddling me this one back in the 70s
lugal@sopuli.xyz · 13 pts · 1d
You mean in contrast to the doctor who fertilize women with "anonymous sperm donations" all anonymously donated by himself. True story
MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 1d
Yup, precisely what I was referencing.
whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 23h
what did I just read?!
ameen272@thelemmy.club · 2 pts · 23h
PEETAHH!!!
idunnololz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 15h
There are two things to be aware of to understand this comic:
Surgeons are usually discouraged from operate on their family members due to conflicts of interest (eg. they may make judgement calls not in the patient's best interest due to emotional conflicts).
There is a popular riddle that goes something like this: a father and son get into a car accident. The father dies and the son is in critical condition. The son is sent to the hospital and goes in for an operation. The surgeon walks in, sees the patient and goes " I can't operate on him, he is my son!" How is this possible? The intended solution is that the surgeon is the boy's mother and it's supposed to show our unconscious bias. (Yes I know the other solution is a father in a same sex relationship but that's not relevant here).
So this comic plays on the readers assumptions by introducing a familiar premise (the riddle with the surgeon) but the subverts expectations in a humurous way (she's adopting her patients to get out of work).
NathanRanch@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1d
My sexist father tried this joke on me once and I was too thick to get it. I always saw the joke itself as a joke