Let’s call it the Lewd Halloween Rule: For every possible type of male costume there is a female version that includes high heels, fishnet stockings and cleavage. Now, this is why I find Halloween so disturbing. We have to assume the costumes for sale simply reflect demand, and this demand reflects our secret wishes, something we actually want to be, disguised in a joking-not-joking irony. Which means that we are a collective mess—both sexes plagued with archaic insecurities and clichéd gender roles.

The number of female doctors in Canada has climbed dramatically over the past nearly 50 years. Women have gone from accounting for just seven per cent of physicians in 1970 to more than 40 per cent today, according to recent numbers released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.