Funny enough, that was, in part, due to doctors having become a ‘gentlemanly’ profession in the 19th century! Are you suggesting, SIR, that a gentleman is unclean!?
Class is a funny fucking thing.
Before germ theory, many societies still participated in washing their hands, and some medical texts recommend doing so before surgery. Which, while a less extensive recommendation than in the modern day, is certainly better than the 19th century twits going from autopsies to deliveries without so much as a fuckin’ rinse!
I guess it just proves how integrated germ theory is to at least me now. Like if I have something on my hands I want to wash it off, but I need to wash it off before I eat or touch my eye or anything like that.
Also doctors are a weird thing class wise, because they require a ton of schooling and smarts. But also back then, it was pretty “dirty” (if not hard) work
I need to wash it off before I eat or touch my eye
I used to think I was like this, until COVID and face coverings happened and I realized just how much I mindlessly touch my face without realizing it. I’ve been working on it for years and still suck at it.
Why yes, I do get really sick about twice a year or so.
Yeah, it’s actually more the norm for physicians to be more of a middle-class profession, closer to teachers than aristocrats. But the position of authority combined with the increasing cultural value placed on learning (and certification) in the 18th and 19th centuries led doctors to become a more ‘respectable’ profession for the aristocracy (at least the lower aristocracy), until in the late 19th century the steady increase in certification intensity once again made it more middle-class.
It’s like how being an officer was once a very ‘middle class’ way of life (as TRUE aristocrats go into government, or just skip ahead to leading large units), but as respect for the officer class grew and professionalization meant that twits with NO military experience became less acceptable as generals, being a professional officer became more aristocratic in the 17th and 18th centuries. And then, as the rigors of officer training increased in the 20th century, it once more reverted to the middle class, lmao.
By way of contrast, engineering, both military and civilian, has always had a very rigorous education, and because, unlike pre-modern doctors, it is very apparent when you mess up, it’s hard to fake or cruise through (also why surgeons were historically lower-class than other doctors - easier to see when you fuck up). Because of that, it’s always been a very middle class profession. High enough to need education, low enough that no aristocrat is going to go through the trouble unless he’s really got a passion for it!
Yeah, I feel like engineering has firmly held the place it “should” across many many societies. Rarely anything other than a respectable middle/upper middle ground, but generally considered necessary and important.
Come on societies just let us run the place for a little. You’ll see a lot more trains
Funny enough, that was, in part, due to doctors having become a ‘gentlemanly’ profession in the 19th century! Are you suggesting, SIR, that a gentleman is unclean!?
Class is a funny fucking thing.
Before germ theory, many societies still participated in washing their hands, and some medical texts recommend doing so before surgery. Which, while a less extensive recommendation than in the modern day, is certainly better than the 19th century twits going from autopsies to deliveries without so much as a fuckin’ rinse!
I guess it just proves how integrated germ theory is to at least me now. Like if I have something on my hands I want to wash it off, but I need to wash it off before I eat or touch my eye or anything like that.
Also doctors are a weird thing class wise, because they require a ton of schooling and smarts. But also back then, it was pretty “dirty” (if not hard) work
I used to think I was like this, until COVID and face coverings happened and I realized just how much I mindlessly touch my face without realizing it. I’ve been working on it for years and still suck at it.
Why yes, I do get really sick about twice a year or so.
Yeah, it’s actually more the norm for physicians to be more of a middle-class profession, closer to teachers than aristocrats. But the position of authority combined with the increasing cultural value placed on learning (and certification) in the 18th and 19th centuries led doctors to become a more ‘respectable’ profession for the aristocracy (at least the lower aristocracy), until in the late 19th century the steady increase in certification intensity once again made it more middle-class.
It’s like how being an officer was once a very ‘middle class’ way of life (as TRUE aristocrats go into government, or just skip ahead to leading large units), but as respect for the officer class grew and professionalization meant that twits with NO military experience became less acceptable as generals, being a professional officer became more aristocratic in the 17th and 18th centuries. And then, as the rigors of officer training increased in the 20th century, it once more reverted to the middle class, lmao.
By way of contrast, engineering, both military and civilian, has always had a very rigorous education, and because, unlike pre-modern doctors, it is very apparent when you mess up, it’s hard to fake or cruise through (also why surgeons were historically lower-class than other doctors - easier to see when you fuck up). Because of that, it’s always been a very middle class profession. High enough to need education, low enough that no aristocrat is going to go through the trouble unless he’s really got a passion for it!
Yeah, I feel like engineering has firmly held the place it “should” across many many societies. Rarely anything other than a respectable middle/upper middle ground, but generally considered necessary and important.
Come on societies just let us run the place for a little. You’ll see a lot more trains