Free Essay About Gender Observation

I usually go to a hospital with my friend whose mother needs regular checkups. It has been the routine that due to too much rush, we have to wait in the lobby for around half or quarter of an hour before her turn comes. Also, while aunty and my friend are with the doctor, I wait in the lobby and do aimless people-watching. This time, I decided to go with a purpose – the purpose being gender observation.
A hospital is a place where people are at their utmost candidness. In other words, pretense hardly has a place in a hospital. Every person is either waiting for a medical checkup or waiting for his/her closed one to get checked by the doctor. Therefore, I was sure that I will be able to observe people while they are completely open about themselves.
While I sat, I saw a girl sitting on the chairs in front of the lobby. She was shaking her leg, and she had a nervous look about her. She was dressed in trousers and a long shirt. She was quite young, but her dressing signaled that she was married. I tried to spot a ring on her finger, and there it was. However, I could not see her husband around. I glanced at her eyes, and they were moving here and there. I realized she was looking for someone. During the five minutes that I watched her, she was nervous and constantly searching with her eyes. Mostly, she kept looking at the entrance door. After a while, a handsome man walked towards her, as she stood
up and greeted him with an anxious smile on her face. When they sat down, she leaned a little towards him. Her anxiety and her posture showed dependence on her husband, while the husband sat coolly, with his back resting on the chair. She was now constantly speaking, probably telling him about her day’s events because they had been reunited just now. However, he kept looking around. It looked like he was hardly trying to listen to her while her eyes were focused on him. The dominance of the husband was completely evident. Also, the dependence of the wife, and how she considered him the center of her attention was also crystal clear.
My eyes caught the attention of a girl and a boy standing at the reception. As the receptionist talked on the phone, I saw the girl with a look of worry on her face, as if she was trying to tell the receptionist to hurry up. The boy was apparently very calm, but his hands were in his pockets, and he kept on moving, as he shifted from one foot to another. However, his face showed no sign of stress or concern. Once the receptionist was free, the girl urged him to ask for information. As both of them were trying to convey their question to the receptionist, their hands moved the same way. Then I noticed that their hair color was also the same, and of the same texture. It was safe to conclude that they were siblings, and were probably there for a parent or another sibling. As soon as they gained the information they needed, the boy asked the girl to go inside, probably to their sick parent and pointed his finger to show her the direction. He ran outside the hospital, as he took charge of a task that involved an outside job. This showed that the girl was considered more reliable in terms of patient care while the boy was fitter for tasks that involved going outside. Today, women have entered almost all fields of professions. However, it is a fact that cannot be denied that the sincerity of effort put in by women when they have to take care of someone is unprecedented.
I glanced at another receptionist, where a male and female receptionist were handling phone calls as well as incoming patients. As I watched, I noticed that the female receptionist was more pleasant to the patients. She smiled as she asked their names, and passed a random remark here and there that left the patient smiling. On the other hand, the male receptionist was just focused on the tasks at hand and cared more about efficiency. He was not worried about the kind of impression he was making. He was working hurriedly to make sure that no queue formed in front of him.
Patients came to him and departed, without hardly exchanging a word other than the necessary details. This pointed out one of the strengths of females. They can put up a nice face even though they are having a hard time. Greeting every patient like they are the first ones to arrive demands considerable energy also. The female receptionist was willing to spend that energy because she knew the role emotions can play in a job that demands customer dealing.
Therefore, my time spent while waiting for my friend’s mother to get checked was productive because I was able to observe how gender affects actions and how relationships can be determined through non-verbal behavior.